Hyperdrive

Toyota CEO Defends Combustion Engines: ‘The Enemy Is Carbon’

  • Toyota looks to hydrogen-powered engine to reduce emissions
  • Japan carmakers showcase carbon-neutral fuels in road race
Toyota's Corolla Sport H2 Concept vehicle, equipped with a hydrogen-powered engine, at Okayama International Circuit in Mimasaka, Japan, on Nov. 13.Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg
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Akio Toyoda, the president of the world’s biggest automaker Toyota Motor Corp., spent the weekend swerving around a racetrack in western Japan in a Corolla.

But it’s no ordinary version of the bestselling car. Toyoda drove a version specially equipped with its new in-house hydrogen engine, which propels the vehicle by burning the fuel much like traditional engines use gasoline. Along with Mazda Motor Corp., Toyota showcased vehicles running on carbon-neutral propellants in a three-hour road race this weekend in Okayama.