May 22, 2021: Race day. Morita’s first stop was the press conference room, packed with members of the media. Before long, President Akio Toyoda appeared, dressed in his ROOKIE Racing driver’s suit. ROOKIE Racing is a private motorsports team, with Akio as the team owner. As “Morizo”, he also serves as a driver in this 24-hour race.

When asked by a reporter about the significance and his thoughts behind racing the hydrogen-powered engine, Akio immediately responded that “our ultimate goal is carbon neutrality”. Ever since Prime Minister Suga announced the goal of making Japan carbon neutral, as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, (JAMA) Akio had been calling for more carbon-neutral options.

Akio stressed that pursuing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as the only option for achieving carbon neutrality would eliminate one million jobs in Japan. Compared to Europe and other regions, Japan’s electricity generation relies more heavily on thermal power. In such circumstances, the energy-intensive production of BEVs would inevitably need to be shifted overseas to avoid emitting large quantities of CO2.

But BEVs are not the only path towards carbon neutrality. Another way involves using "carbon-neutral fuels" such as hydrogen and biofuel. For Japan, having many options for reaching carbon neutrality is important. And now the opportunity has arisen to demonstrate one such option through motorsports. As Akio emphasized, that is the significance of taking part in this race.

So why now? “A great many people have been involved in getting the Corolla’s hydrogen-powered engine up and running,” says Akio. Toyota’s engineers had been toiling away on the research since well before the decision to enter the race. Finally getting the technology race-ready required the combined efforts of many individuals, who continued to refine the hydrogen-powered engine without knowing when it would see the light of day. That is why Akio was determined to “finish the race, whatever it takes”.

At the press conference, Morita witnessed Akio’s strong determination to attempt something unprecedented in order to help create a hydrogen society. Next, he spoke to GAZOO Racing Company President Koji Sato, who leads the hydrogen-engine project, about the challenge that lay ahead.

Sato began by providing his explanation of the hydrogen-powered engine.

On visiting the pits, Morita finally came face to face with the hydrogen-powered Corolla. Even kitted out in ROOKIE Racing colors, it didn’t look much different from a regular Corolla. Peeking into the rear seats, however, revealed a space packed with hydrogen tanks. To minimize the number of refueling stops during the 24-hour endurance race, the car was loaded with huge hydrogen tanks. Even so, the hydrogen would need to be filled up about once every 30 minutes.

The engine finally roars to life, a deep, powerful rumble reverberating through the pits. “That’s the sound of a hydrogen-powered engine,” exclaims Morita. “Sounds just like a regular engine.”

White smoke rises from the muffler at the rear of the car. What’s this? Morita brings his face closer to breathe in the exhaust. That’s right – burning hydrogen produces only water, meaning this white smoke is nothing more than water vapor.

Next, Morita asked Naoaki Ito of the GR Project Operation Division to share the story of the hydrogen-powered engine’s development. Ito recalls the development being spurred by concerns that, a decade or two from now, sports cars may not survive the carbon-neutral age.

“We began exploring the potential of a hydrogen-powered engine because we wanted to retain the thrill and excitement of sports cars,” says Ito. A sparkle in his eye revealed Ito’s genuine love of engines, as he explained how “an engine responds differently depending on the skill or character of the person handling it”.

Two massive trucks stand in the space beside the pit area. A sign placed in front of them reads “H2 STOP”. This is where the Corolla will be filled with hydrogen as it battles through the race. Just as the hydrogen-powered engine’s entry in the race marks a world-first, refueling a race car with hydrogen on site is also an unprecedented endeavor. What sort of challenges did this present? Morita posed the question to Yoji Kanie and Masaaki Ichikawa of the GR Project Operation Division and Yutaka Sawada of the Commercial ZEV System Products Development Division.

This hydrogen refueling facility is a joint effort with Toyota’s partners, Iwatani Corporation and Taiyo Nippon Sanso. The aim is to develop infrastructure alongside the car itself. No matter how far the hydrogen-powered engine technology progresses, it won’t have practical value unless cars can access hydrogen. Developing both aspects – the cars and the infrastructure – is vital to achieving a hydrogen society.

Kanie’s background lies in production engineering, which involves constructing plants and establishing processes. For this race, his mission was to “create a process for safely filling hydrogen at the track, which would last only three days”.

In a race, hydrogen must be refilled as quickly as possible. To that end, the team devised a method that uses two mobile hydrogen stations in tandem.

Next, Morita asked Manabu Tsuyoshi, Member of the Board & Managing Officer at Iwatani Corporation, which produces hydrogen and installs hydrogen stations, about the hydrogen to be used in this race.

The hydrogen for this race comes from the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R), one of the world’s largest hydrogen production facilities. Located in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, the facility uses solar energy to produce hydrogen. For the race, the team brought over hydrogen from FH2R with the mindset that “if we’re going to use hydrogen, let’s make it green”.

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen made without emitting CO2 during the production process. This is the case for FH2R hydrogen, which is produced using only electricity from solar power.

Hydrogen can also be extracted from fossil fuels, such as methanol and LNG (liquefied natural gas), but this also produces CO2 at the same time. Hydrogen made in this way is known as “grey hydrogen”. Another approach, “blue hydrogen”, involves capturing and storing, or otherwise utilizing, the CO2 that is emitted in the production process. Not all hydrogen is made equal.

As the 3 p.m. start time neared, Morita found his way to the home straight of Fuji Speedway. The world’s first racing car equipped with a hydrogen-powered engine was finally about to begin its run. At the start signal, the Corolla driven by Kamui Kobayashi took off, billowing white smoke.

Completing its first lap, the ROOKIE Racing Corolla presented a valiant figure as it streaked safely back down the home straight, where an excited Morita watched on.

Morita immediately interviewed Kamui Kobayashi, fresh from his stint behind the wheel. In fact, it was Kamui who provided the catalyst for the hydrogen-powered engine’s entry into the race. A ride in a hydrogen-engine test vehicle while visiting Toyota’s training facility with Akio last year made him instinctively feel that this was “the only way forward”. From there, speaking with many people and researching hydrogen for himself convinced Kamui that this technology was “something we should pursue properly”.

So why did the team decide to leap straight into motorsports? In response to Morita's question, Kamui gave the example of hybrid technology. Despite being generally seen as “eco-friendly”, if used effectively hybrid vehicles could actually be more powerful than gasoline-engine cars. Toyota’s own results when competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a hybrid car have been dominant, even claiming the course record for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race boasting more than 100-years of history.

Similarly, seeing the hydrogen-powered engine become merely an eco-friendly technology would count as a missed opportunity for Kamui. He hopes that broad exposure through motorsports will create a sporty image that can then be passed on to many types of cars.

A few hours into the race, Morita visits the pits to get a status update from the GR Project Operation Division’s Naoyuki Sakamoto. As it turns out, the issue of abnormal combustion that accompanies hydrogen-powered engines is starting to rear its head. The team is analyzing data in real-time to pin down the cause while the car remains on the track.

Morita also spoke with Morizo after his successful first run. “It felt no different from driving a gasoline-powered car,” reflected Morizo. The presence of the hydrogen only became obvious during refuelling, which even attracted the attention of the cameras, a level of interest that Morizo found surprising.

Driver Masahiro Sasaki explained the differences between the hydrogen- and gasoline-powered engines that can only be felt from behind the wheel.

With 25 minutes remaining, Morizo finally heads out for the final stint. After sharing fist bumps with everyone on the scene, including Morita, he climbs into the Corolla. The entire crew watches the Corolla set out from the pits with the same rumble of the engine as 24 hours earlier.

In the final minute, the drivers and team members assemble along the home straight to greet the hydrogen-powered Corolla as it completes the 24 hours in style. An overjoyed President Sato embraces driver Kamui Kobayashi.

In completing the 24-hour endurance race with a hydrogen-powered engine, the team had realized a tremendous, world-first undertaking. Every member glowed with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Standing before them, Akio – or rather, Morizo – summed up the challenge they had overcome.

With the race over, Morita wrapped up his coverage of these 24 hours. Until the press briefing on April 22, he had not even heard the words "hydrogen-powered engine", and came here unsure exactly what it meant to improve a car through motorsports. In finding out, Morita captured every part of the hydrogen journey, from making and transporting to using and watching it in action.

In covering the race, many things became clear. When Morizo crossed the finish line, everyone from the engine’s developers to the mechanics hugged and shared in the joy of that moment. Here was the “purposeful passion and action” that was needed to create our future through the new technology of hydrogen-powered engines.