Isuzu And Toyota Develop Hydrogen Bus, Ready To Produce Next Year

JAKARTA - Isuzu Motors Limited and Toyota Motor Corporation have announced plans to jointly develop the next generation hydrogen fuel cell bus. Production is expected to begin in fiscal year 2026 at the Utsunomiya J-Bus Ltd Factory located in Tochigi Prefecture.

Later, a new model will be built on the Isuzu flat-floor battery electric bus platform, which was launched in fiscal year 2024 in collaboration with Hino and is currently produced by J-Bus. This platform will be integrated with the fuel cell system developed by Toyota.

"As part of their efforts to realize zero-emission vehicles, Isuzu and Toyota are jointly developing next-generation FC buses, trying to reduce costs by standardizing BEV and FCV parts," Isuzu tweeted, quoted from its official website, Tuesday, September 30.

By sharing components between the BEV (batch electric vehicle) and FCV buses (fuel cell vehicles), this collaboration aims to lower development and production costs, while at the same time aligning with the targets of the two companies in accelerating shifts towards zero-emissions public transport.

Isuzu sees the move as part of its push for carbon neutrality and diversification of environmentally friendly bus technology, building work on electric buses.

On the other hand, Toyota continues to position hydrogen as another alternative to Beyond Zero's strategy, with ongoing projects that include hydrogen production, storage, distribution, and applications.

The two companies also confirmed that buses will initially be used in Japan's priority areas to promote the introduction of fuel cell commercial vehicles, which include the prefectures of Aichi, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Hyogo, Kanagawa, and Tokyo.