Hmm, sounds like the Oil-Endgame car proposed by Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute gang.

http://www.oilendgame.com.

Interesting stuff.

I'm skeptical.

How long will those in-wheel electric motors operate reliably after being exposed to road grime, water, extreme temperatures, lack of shock absorbers, and basic torque of steering?

Do drive-by-wire control systems have a fatal flaw of being vulnerable to any disruption and cause accidents?

Will fuel cell subcompacts with a driving range of perhaps 100-200 miles fill the needs of most motorists?

Is hydrogen fuel cell the most expensive, least practical technology?

I'm skeptical and not impressed.

I'm a big advocate of fuel cell and hybrid technology, but I'm not very impressed either.

I see this concept as being technology for technology's sake alone. The motor-in-wheel (also known as whispering wheel by some) doesn't take into account what to do if one gets a flat tire. Also, I'm sure the electric motors have a lot of torque, but their efficiency is still pretty limited by the lack of any sort of transmission or gearing.

PLUS the storage is through compressed gas, instead of something like a hydride or ammine.

PLUS the steer-by-wire doesn't have any sort of mechanical backup or failsafe.

I view this as a big regression in automotive technology. Please don't make this car Toyota.

people with concerns about drive-by-wire systems: who are you kidding? the prius has had drive-by-wire systems for steering, acceleration, and braking for the past...wait....3 years.
oh snap.
also you people must be in wonderland. are you telling me that in-wheel motors are something new and they haven't been designed with the road in mind? this car isn't a kid's toy. give me a break.

"Also, I'm sure the electric motors have a lot of torque, but their efficiency is still pretty limited by the lack of any sort of transmission or gearing."

What?!

An electric motor has an efficiency of 90-95 %!

Ash, the term hybrid in an automotive sense is not limited to only gas-electric hybrids. A hybrid vehicle is one that combines two different forms of propulsion together.

In this case, it's a fuel cell hybrid. Toyota has said that fuel cells will undoubtedly use hybrid systems in the future. Adding a hybrid system to a fuel cell vehicle increases it's mileage, increases performance, and thusly so makes the car more practical.

You guys sound like all of the Ford and GM auto engineers.

Where's your creativity? Sense of imagination?

Jeff-While I'm glad you agree with me about the potential problems with "fly-by-wire", you have to be out of your mind to suggest that an electric motor-powered car would not benefit from even a basic gearbox. I'll have you know that the motors in the Honda FCX and DC F-Cell both have single gear transmissions, rather than being directly attached to the wheels. If you look at any application where the motor has to operate through a wide range of speeds, whether it is automotive, toy cars, or even robotics, you'll see that it has some sort of gearing to improve total possible speed or torque at a given rpm.

In the end, as it relates to this article, all I'm saying it that Toyota's wheel-mounted engines don't seem like a wise idea, at least in their current iteration.

The 1899 Lohner designed by a very young Ferdinand Porsche was a serial hybrid with electric motors integrated into the wheel hubs. It's a very attractive proposition, and I have seen prototypes/concepts for decades. Cost is what need to come down. Regarding gearing, it's not that an electric vehicle needs multiple gears to go over 100mph; the GTV trains in Europe hit close to 200mph. Its a trade off in design; hub motors can be designed to cover the full range of speeds a car needs without gears; most currently have them because typical electric motors are designed to run faster, therefor need to be geared down. But its not necessary; don't forget an electric motor develops maximum torque at stall speed(0 rpm).

Toyo, you are correct, there are ethanol-electric hybrids, diesel-electric hybeids gasoline-hydraulic hybrids, etc...

But this still isn't a hybrid, it still only uses 1 power source: electric

The energy source defines the engine. A fuel cell runs on hydrogen. A regular battery stores electric charge. Those are two different energy stores, hence this is a hybrid. In fact, you pretty much have to hybridize fuel cell vehicles because their prime mover is phlegmatic (slow response to load steps, cp. early turbocharged ICEs) and because even hydrogen at 700 atmospheres has poor volumetric energy density (i.e. operating range is a problem).

The big problem with this concept, as with all hydrogen-based vehicles is producing and distributing industrial quantities of hydrogen at acceptable economic and ecological cost. Renewables are too expensive, while steam reforming methane and nuclear power result in large net increases in GHG and radioactive waste, respectively. Afaiac, this renders all of the successes already achieved moot points - hydrogen is a huge white elephant.

The defining problem here is the cost of the fuel cell. Apparently, Toyota has found a way to make a new alloy catalyst which reduces the amount of precious metal used. Once fuel cell cost is brought down on par with ICE technology, then fuel cell vehicle promises wonderfully simple machine, electric-quiet and vibration-free operation, without exhaust emission. Current ICE technology is very complicated in comparison, with a lot of moving parts, all kinds of emission control mechanism, and relatively high maintenance.
In-wheel motors greatly reduce the complication, cost, maintenance, and efficiency loss of a mechanical transmission unit. For those who are in doubt of this arrangement, just look at a typical diesel-electric hybrid locomotive. This is a serial hybrid in which the output of a diesel engine is coupled to an electrical generator which is then transmitting power to the wheels of the locomotive which are fitted with electric motors. The electric component acts as a transmission unit without requiring gears or hydraulic parts, and has proven to be very reliable, or else the railroad companies would not have used it. This proves to be the most common type of locomotive used in the US, far out-numbers diesel-hydraulic hybrid.
For those who are concerned about the cost and availability of hydrogen from renewable sources, a recent high-temp steam electrolysis has shown capable of producing hydrogen at nearly 45% efficiency using solar concentrator energy. In this method, high-temp steam of 800 degree C is subjected to electric current using appropriate electrodes, and it turned out that at high heat, only 1/2 the amount of electricity will be required to generate hydrogen. Since heat energy can be obtained a lot cheaper per kwh than electrical energy, the cost of hydrogen thus generated is calculated to be around equivalent to current cost of gasoline at $2.50 a gallon. (~$2.48 per kg of hydrogen)
For those who worries about drive-by-wire technology and other electrical accessory power, just look at the success of the AirBus jetliners. Of course, Toyota will simply transfer current electrical technologies in their hybrids over to the fuel cell vehicles of the future.

Ash, it's still a hybrid, because the vehicle is being propelled by two different power sources, one being the hybrid system, the other being the hydrogen cells. It makes no difference that both have an end result of electric power. That's like saying a gas-hybrid is not "really" a hybrid, because both the gas and hybrid propulsion end up as the same type of force, which is torque. That's just a ridiculous notion.

As for those saying this is a concept, yes it is true it's a concept vehicle, but those 70MPa tanks have already seen real world action.

Last year during the World Expo in Japan, Toyota had a fleet of fuel cell hybrid busses operating on the Expo grounds and transporting people. And yes, those busses were using Toyota's newly developed 70MPa tanks.