Toyota, SinoHytec form new joint venture for FCV

Beijing (Gasgoo)- Beijing SinoHytec Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation officially formed a 50-50 joint venture on the fuel cell businesses for commercial vehicles. Both parties will invest a total of 8 billion yen to the new joint venture, called Toyota Sinohytec Fuel Cell Co.,Ltd. (FCTS).   

In June 2020, six companies, including Toyota and SinoHytec, signed a joint venture agreement to establish United Fuel Cell System R&D (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (FCRD), whose primary business will be to develop fuel cell systems for commercial vehicles to contribute to the realization of a clean mobility society in China. The newly established FCTS will be responsible for producing and selling the systems developed by FCRD.

The first product from the new company will be based on Toyota’s fuel cell system used in MIRAI and has an improved output power for application in commercial vehicles. According to the statement of SinoHytec, the new product is scheduled for China’s market launch in 2021.  

The new joint venture will start producing the systems in 2023 in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. The production will adopt Toyota Production System (TPS), which is based on the philosophy of achieving the complete elimination of all waste in pursuit of the most efficient methods.

On the same day, Great Wall Motor announced that it will invest another 3 billion yuan ($457.233 million) over the next three years in hydrogen energy business and will launch its first hydrogen fuel cell SUV model and roll out 100 hydrogen heavy trucks this year.