Hino, Isuzu, and Toyota have all recently announced that they will be partnering up to build battery electric and hydrogen buses for 2024. This partnership stems from the shared goal of all three brands to become carbon-neutral for 2050 according to their press release.
These battery electric vehicles (BEV) buses will be a joint development for the three companies with Isuzu at the helmet of the manufacturing process. This was done as a response to the requirements of bus operators in Japan for a much cleaner mode of transportation.
The press release further states that these buses will come with a compact battery pack underneath the cabin so that a flat floor can be achieved for the future set of vehicles. This in turn will also make it safer for passengers as the center of gravity is further lowered and more spacious as well.
To further add to this, the three brands will also reportedly begin to develop a next-generation fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) that will be based on the BEV flat-floor bus model. This specific model is slated to enter production sometime in 2024 and will utilize the same technology found in the Toyota Mirai and the Sora bus.
Production costs for the future set of buses are also expected to be lowered especially as all three companies will be sharing their knowledge and technologies in this project. The future buses are even planned to use the same components to further reduce production costs making them a more viable option for future markets.
There is no word yet as to what these future buses will look like or what kind of features they will bring to the table. Given that buses are generally large in their dimensions we could soon see these future models plying the city streets of Japan. Neither of the three companies has yet to release any information as to if they plan on making a long-distance version of these electric buses that could travel from city to city.
