Toyota, Lyft offer hydrogen-powered vehicles for Vancouver ride-hail drivers

Lyft said the  partnership is part of its efforts to switch every vehicle on its platform to zero emissions by 2030. 

Hydrogen produces no greenhouse gas emissions at the tailpipe when burned in a fuel cell to power a vehicle.

However, the source of hydrogen matters.  Pure hydrogen has to be produced, and while it can be made from water using renewable electricity — so-called green hydrogen — most hydrogen produced globally has been made from natural gas, offering “little to no climate benefit,” according to the Pembina Institute.

Testing hydrogen vehicles with consumers

For Toyota, the agreement offers the opportunity to introduce consumers to vehicles powered by hydrogen — which has long been hailed as the fuel of the future, but not caught on in popularity at the pace of battery electric vehicles.

“Everybody who sits in the back seat of [a Mirai] is going to be able to learn a little bit more about hydrogen technology. There’s no way that we could do that on our own,” said Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada’s vice president, corporate.

Beatty called the Lyft partnership a proof of concept, saying Toyota considered it a test to see how the vehicles were performing before eyeing nationwide expansions.

Toyota launched the Mirai roughly six years ago, but by the end of September had sold only 11,100 vehicles, with consumers concerned over the lack of fuelling stations and resale values.

Toyota in December launched a revamped version with a wider range of 500 kilometres.

British Columbia has four hydrogen stations, of which three are in Vancouver, according to HTEC Hydrogen Technology and Energy Corporation, which operates the stations and said that refueling takes around five minutes.

Hydrogen vehicles’ shorter fuelling time and longer ranges make them a more practical option for ride-hail drivers than electric vehicles, Lukomskyj and Beatty said.

Canada in December unveiled a hydrogen strategy aimed at spurring growth in the clean fuel sector and created a $1.5 billion investment fund for low-carbon fuels.

Lyft currently only operates in Richmond and Vancouver and in some cities in Ontario.