Toyota, Yamaha developing hydrogen-fuelled V8

Toyota is investing heavily in keeping internal combustion engines alive, turning to Yamaha to develop a V8 which runs on hydrogen.

The Japanese manufacturer has made no secret of its intentions to save internal combustion, having formed an alliance with Mazda and Subaru, among others, as well as making a Corolla race car with a hydrogen-fuelled GR Yaris engine.

Doubling down on its hydrogen-powered aspirations for ICEs, Toyota has plucked the 5.0-litre 2UR-GSE V8 from the Lexus RC F for its latest project, retaining a healthy output of more than 330kW with zero emissions coming out of its top-mounted 8-to-1 exhaust manifold. It's a drop in power of just 10kW, but a gain of 20Nm in torque over the standard engine – bumping up to 540Nm.

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While the car's original heads were designed by Yamaha, the engine tuner/motorbike manufacturer/piano maker had to make slightly more drastic changes for the bent-eight to run on hydrogen, changing its intake manifold and injectors – as well as more tweaks to the cylinder heads.

Realistically, the engine could be dropped straight into an RC F with a new exhaust manifold and pressurised fuel system being the only major changes needed, as Yamaha Motor's head Yoshihiro Hidaka believes the hydrogen V8 is proof ICEs can be kept clean.

“We are working toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050," said Hidaka.

"At the same time, ‘Motor’ is in our company name and we accordingly have a strong passion for and level of commitment to the internal combustion engine.

“Hydrogen engines house the potential to be carbon-neutral while keeping our passion for the internal combustion engine alive at the same time. Teaming up with companies with different corporate cultures and areas of expertise, as well as growing the number of partners we have, is how we want to lead the way into the future.”

Despite rumours circulating about a hydrogen-powered LandCruiser in development, Toyota is far from putting all of its eggs into one hydrogen-filled basket, with the manufacturer unveiling its plans to introduce at least 30 battery electric vehicles to the market by 2030, as Lexus targets becoming an all-electric brand by 2035.