After creating an alliance with other Japanese manufacturers, Toyota and Yamaha are already demonstrating the fruit of this union and decided to present the world's first hydrogen-powered V8 engine
After a request made by Toyota, Yamaha developed a V8 engine (eight cylinders, in the shape of a "V") with a capacity of 5.0 liters, intended for cars powered by hydrogen. This new project is related to a new alliance formed between Toyota, Yamaha and other Japanese companies in the automotive sector, which aims to expand fuel options for combustion engines, proving that electrifying vehicles is not the only sustainable solution for the mobility of the future.
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New eight-cylinder, hydrogen-powered engine developed by Yamaha is world's first
According to the president of Yamaha Motor, Yoshihiro Hidaka, the Japanese manufacturer has been working to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050. Hidaka highlighted that the word 'Engine' is in our company name precisely because of the strong passion and level of commitment to the internal combustion engine.
Even though Yamaha is famous for its motorcycles, the Japanese manufacturer has also invested in car engine production. Yamaha even made high-performance engines for Formula 1, which were inserted into the Tyrell, Brabham and Jordan cars in 1990.
The eight-cylinder, hydrogen-powered engine, developed by Yamaha for Toyota, is completely based on the 5,0-liter engine of the luxury Lexus RC F sports car.
Alliance between Japanese manufacturers
As of November 2021, Japanese companies Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subaru Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor, announced that they have formed an alliance to conduct collaborative research, on the feasibility of expanding fuel options for internal combustion engines, as an alternative to electric motors that are seeking carbon neutrality.
About 5 years ago, Yamaha began to develop a hydrogen engine and, according to Takeshi Yamada, engineer in charge of the automotive development department at the Yamaha Technical Research and Development Center, the manufacturer believes in the potential of using hydrogen as a fuel for high-performance engines.
Fascination with an internal combustion engine
Takeshi says that he began to notice that engines that used only hydrogen as fuel had excellent performance characteristics. According to him, the hydrogen engine is user-friendly, making it easy to use even if you need to resort to electronic driving aids.
The Yamaha engineer truly believes that there is enormous potential in these unique features of the hydrogen engine and seeks not to treat it just as a substitute for gasoline.
Another highly valued characteristic throughout the development process was the rumble emitted by the exhaust of the eight-cylinder engine. Takeshi said that Yamaha is looking not only at engine performance, but also to encourage a new fascination with the internal combustion engine.
