POSSIBLE plans by Toyota to establish a hydrogen car manufacturing industry utilising Latrobe Valley brown coal are nothing more than long term hypotheticals, according to a Toyota spokesperson.
The clarification comes after a Herald Sun article last week detailed the possible construction of a hydrogen-capturing plant in Gippsland, using the Valley’s brown coal as its fuel source, which could provide “hundreds” of local jobs.
Toyota Australia president Max Yasuda said in the article the company was attempting to import trial hydrogen cars by 2015, with a view for mass production in line with consumer demand.
However a spokesperson told The Express there were currently no plans to bring hydrogen cars to Australia (other than test cars) and no plans to use brown coal.
“Hydrogen vehicles are a very long term vision… this is a very exciting area for Toyota. However a lot more study needs to be done before we can discuss the introduction of hydrogen vehicles in Australia,” the spokesperson said.
