Toyota doubles down on green, prices new fuel cell cars for 2015

CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show. Though cars are often a part of the show, it is because the automobile is increasingly a place where we use consumer electronics. Lately, however, cars have become consumer electronics. They are no longer just for car nerds; they are also for tech nerds. This past CES 2014 saw the introduction of what is sure to be the first commercially available fuel cell car. It is coming from none other than Toyota: the company that is making green the new black.

In 2006, director Chris Paine wanted to know who killed the electric car. Today, the better question is who gets the credit for resurrecting it. While tech geeks might think of Elon Musk and Tesla Motors, The real credit for the greening of the consumer ride goes to Toyota and the Prius. These hybrid curiosities hit the streets of Japan in 1997. It took three years for them to make their way to the US. We doubted, we scoffed, we even laughed. But we took a look, and we never looked back. Toyota dealers are helping customers around the world discover that it is much easier to be green than they thought.

The rest of the industry now seeks greener pastures 

We humans are sometimes slow to recognize a good idea. But when we finally do, we are quick to emulate it. The auto industry sat back and waited to see if the Prius would catch on, or if it would crash and burn. The petroleum companies were probably not the only ones rooting for the latter. It wasn't long before the Prius was the only name in the eco-friendly category. It took a while, but predictably, other companies started trying to out eco the Prius.

Initially, it was me too hybrid offerings from Honda and Ford. There was nothing wrong with the offerings. But they did nothing to move the industry forward. However, their presence in the market did help to validate the Prius even more. Eventually, we started to hear talk of full on plugin electrics. 

The one that garnered the most attention at the time was the Nissan Leaf. We also have the Chevy Volt to consider. Today, hybrid and electric cars are a legitimate category with their own cottage industry growing up alongside them. When people go shopping for a new car, hybrids and electrics are now legitimately on the menu.

Toyota is poised to do for the fuel cell what it did for the hybrid

We have been hearing about fuel cell cars for almost as long as we have been hearing about electric cars. But there have always been too many hurdles to make it a viable option. That is where CES 2014 comes in. Toyota showed us their first attempt to break through the consumer fuel cell barrier. Many probably dismissed it because CES is a show that often sees the announcement of things that never come to market. Not only is the new eco ride coming to market, we now have pricing and availability information to go with it.

For the moment, the only name we have for the auto is FCV. That presumably stands for Fuel Cell Vehicle. It will come to the US in 2015, and to Japan several months before that. The Japanese pricing is set at 7 million yen, or about $69,000 US. The technology driving this vehicle is nothing like our current eco solutions. It literally runs on hydrogen and air. It emits water vapor. It sounds like something out of Back To The Future, but for now, we still need roads. Toyota has paved its place in history as the company most responsible for turning the roads green.