Tag Archives: Toyota

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Toyota’s Liquid-Hydrogen, Superconductive GR Corolla Breaks Cover at Fuji—And It’s Wild

Two and a half years after Toyota floated the idea—one that sounded more like sci-fi than motorsport engineering—a race car blending superconductive tech with a liquid-hydrogen–fueled engine has finally torn down a real-world straightaway. And it didn’t do it quietly.

At the finale of the 2025 Super Taikyu Series at Fuji Speedway, the prototype GR Corolla hydrogen racer fired up its engine, hissed with icy vapor, and shot past the press like a rolling physics experiment unleashed. At first glance, it looks like last year’s liquid-hydrogen Corolla—but the similarities end at the sheet metal.

Superconductivity Meets Motorsports

Inside the fuel tank, where liquid hydrogen sits at –253°C, Toyota’s engineers managed something no automaker—or anyone, really—has done before: integrate superconductivity into a moving, violently vibrating, endurance-racing machine.

Superconductivity eliminates electrical resistance at low temperatures. That means the system can extract the same power from the motor with far less current—allowing the engineering team to shrink components and rethink packaging. One of the biggest breakthroughs was placing the pump motor inside the fuel tank itself, freeing up enough space to double tank capacity from 150 to 300 liters.

Kyoto University professor Taketsune Nakamura, one of the foremost superconductivity experts in Japan, didn’t sugarcoat the technical insanity of the project:
“Superconducting motors are being researched and developed worldwide, but there still isn’t a single practical application.”
Putting one in a race car, he added, was nothing short of “totally insane.”

A Week From Disaster, a Day From History

The development process lived somewhere between high-risk engineering and controlled panic. Even days before the first shakedown lap—one week before its public reveal—engineer Ryosuke Yamamoto admitted, voice tight, that he had “no idea what would happen” when the car hit the asphalt.

Yet on November 15, the liquid-hydrogen GR Corolla ran cleanly, safely, and smoothly enough to stun the gathered media. It didn’t just work—it worked well enough that journalists immediately asked the question everyone was thinking:
When does this thing race?

Eyes on the Fuji 24 Hours… Maybe

When broadcaster and hydrogen-car evangelist Yuta Tomikawa asked if the team would bring it to next year’s Fuji 24 Hours, hydrogen-engine project chief Naoaki Ito offered a careful, almost mischievous grin before replying:
“We’ll do our best.”

The Fuji 24 Hours has become Toyota’s proving ground for all hydrogen-powered firsts. In 2021, the world’s first hydrogen-engine race car debuted there. In 2023, Toyota returned with the updated liquid-hydrogen variant. The superconductive version feels like the next natural chapter—if Toyota can get it race-ready in time.

What Comes Next

Toyota isn’t promising anything yet. But the car’s successful demonstration run suggests a competitive debut is not a matter of if but when. With just six months until the next Fuji 24 Hours, the team is already grinding toward the next iteration.

Superconductivity in motorsport still sounds like something ripped from a physics textbook. But at Fuji Speedway, for a few frigid seconds, it was real—loud, fast, and running on the coldest fuel on Earth.

And that’s how revolutions in racing usually start: not with perfection, but with the first lap that didn’t blow up.

Source: Toyota

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Toyota Doubles Down on Hybrids with $912 Million U.S. Manufacturing Boost

Toyota is turning up the dial on its U.S. hybrid strategy. Last week, the automaker announced it will invest an additional $10 billion across the United States over the next five years, bringing its total investment in the country to a staggering $60 billion over seven decades of operations. The first $912 million of that sum is earmarked for an ambitious expansion of five domestic manufacturing plants—and it underscores Toyota’s commitment to hybrids rather than fully electric vehicles.

Kevin Voelkel, Toyota’s senior vice president of manufacturing operations, said the company’s U.S. teams are gearing up to meet growing consumer demand for hybrids. “Customers are embracing the brand’s hybrids,” Voelkel said, “and our manufacturing teams are ready to deliver.”

West Virginia Leads the Charge

The lion’s share of the investment—$453 million—will go to Toyota’s West Virginia facility. The plant, set to begin expansion in 2027, will boost production of four-cylinder hybrid engines, sixth-generation hybrid transaxles, and rear motor stators, creating a significant production ramp for the company’s hybrid portfolio.

Supporting Cast: Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri

Toyota’s Kentucky plant will receive $204.4 million to build four-cylinder hybrid-compatible engines, generating 82 new jobs. In Mississippi, the company is investing $125 million to start domestic production of the Corolla hybrid—a major milestone in bringing one of Toyota’s most popular hybrids to U.S. soil.

Tennessee’s Jackson plant will see $71.4 million directed toward three new production lines slated to open in 2027 and 2028, increasing output of hybrid transaxle cases, housings, and engine blocks. Meanwhile, the smallest allotment—$57.1 million—will go to Toyota’s Troy, Missouri, facility. The plant will add a new line producing cylinder heads for hybrid vehicles, capable of more than 200,000 units annually, and create 57 jobs.

A Calculated Hybrid Bet

While some automakers are racing headlong into all-electric models, Toyota remains cautiously optimistic about hybrids. With U.S. EV demand plateauing after the expiration of federal tax incentives, the automaker sees hybrids as a pragmatic bridge technology—and a lucrative opportunity in the near term.

By doubling down on hybrids, Toyota is staking its claim in a segment that may increasingly define the next decade of American automotive demand. For U.S. consumers, that means more domestically built, fuel-efficient options rolling off the line in the years ahead.

Source: Toyota

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Akio Toyoda’s NASCAR MAGA Moment Raises Eyebrows Across the Auto Industry

In an era where most global CEOs tiptoe around American politics like it’s a shop floor covered in freshly painted bumpers, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda decided to stomp right across it in muddy boots. And he did so at a NASCAR event, of all places.

The longtime Toyota boss—one of the most influential figures in the industry—arrived at a gathering reportedly hosted by the Automobile Business & Culture Association of Japan (which he leads) dressed not in neutral corporate swag, but in a full Trump–Vance t-shirt and a MAGA hat. It was an image that many online commenters assumed was AI-generated. It wasn’t.

If Toyota’s American PR department had a heart-rate monitor on during the event, it likely flatlined.

Corporate America Is Quietly Playing Along—Toyoda Was Not

Most tech and media giants have been complying quietly with Trump-era pressures: settling lawsuits, greasing political palms, and doing everything short of monogramming towels with “45.” It’s the kind of political calculus companies prefer to keep in the conference room, not in the VIP paddock at a stock car race.

Toyoda, however, took the scenic route.

While U.S. Ambassador George Glass kept things diplomatic in a plain black vest and hat, the Toyota chairman went full campaign-rally chic. Subtle it was not.

“Tariffs Can Be a Win for Everyone,” Toyoda Says — Even as Toyota Prices Rise

Before the event, Toyoda struck a statesmanlike tone, insisting he wasn’t there to debate whether tariffs were good or bad. “Every national leader wants to protect their own auto industry,” he said, adding that Toyota is “exploring ways to make tariffs a winner for everyone”—especially customers.

That talking point is a tough sell when Toyota and Lexus have been quietly bumping MSRPs upward. The 2026 Lexus GX recently climbed $750 with zero improvements to justify it, and the 2026 Toyota 4Runner is up as much as $1,000.

If tariffs are winning, the scoreboard isn’t showing it at dealer lots.

Online Reaction: Swift, Loud, and Absolutely Divided

Users on X (formerly Twitter) reacted with predictable volatility. One swore that Toyota is “clearly another car brand who will never see me as a customer.” Others pleaded for automakers to “handle politics… in a way that’s not noticeable.”

Good luck with that now.

Billions on the Line

The spectacle arrives just as Toyota is preparing to pour an additional $10 billion into U.S. operations—bringing its total American investment close to $60 billion. The White House recently announced that Toyota intends to export U.S.-built vehicles to Japan and open its Japanese distribution channels to American automakers. Japan, meanwhile, has agreed to allow sales of U.S.-made and U.S.-certified vehicles without extra safety testing—a significant shift in a long-protected market.

Most automaker executives have mastered the art of being everywhere politically without ever looking political. It’s an essential skill in a global industry where customers come from all corners.

Akio Toyoda, however, showed up to NASCAR wearing his politics on his sleeve—literally. Whether that was a strategic move, a cultural misread, or a moment of unfiltered candor, one thing is certain:

In a world of carefully choreographed corporate diplomacy, this was a rare, full-throttle, wide-open-throttle PR slide.

If Toyota dealers hear customers bring this up in showrooms, they may want to start practicing their countersteer.

Source: U.S. Ambassador to Japan