With the global warming uproar, automakers are mandated to fill the roads with fuel efficient cars. But Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will take years to make the cars commercially viable.

The fuel-cell hybrid vehicle (FCHV) produces electricity through a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. Fuel cells emit nothing more than water vapor. This is why the FCHV is deemed one of the cleanest cars that are expected to invade the roads.

In 2007, the Japanese auto giant reported success in a test of a fuel-cell car. During the test, the FCHV was driven about 560 kilometers on a single filling. Remarkably, the car finished with 30 percent of the hydrogen still in the tank.

Beside the fact that the FCHV is pricey, Watanabe noted that motorists would need an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations if they are to take fuel-cell cars on the road.
"It will probably be a long way ahead until we can start mass production, considering problems linked to difficulties in how to stock hydrogen and where to draw hydrogen from," he said. "It'll take long time to solve these problems, but we will definitely commercialize it as I believe it is a promising power sourceaid.”

Toyota is the pioneer of hybrids. Additionally, the automaker is also expected to become the world’s largest this year by leapfrogging General Motors Corp.

Watanabe in an interview with AFP said he hoped to go further and "make a car that can actually clean the air, so that the longer it runs the cleaner the air becomes." He added work was progressing with Matsushita on loading cars with lithium-ion batteries. The batteries would introduce to the industry the so-called “plug-in hybrids" that can be recharged from domestic outlets. "By 2010 we hope the achievement will see customers," Watanabe said.

"I have no intention of changing our policy that the centre of research and development will be in Japan," he concluded. "Of course, part of technological development already has shifted to satellite centers in the United States, Europe, Thailand, Australia and Taiwan. But the basic and core technologies will be developed in Japan."

Despite the hybrid vehicles being the new symbol for environmental friendly and fuel efficient vehicles, these are not literally seen by the blind. For blind people, because hybrids are quieter when they are on lower speeds when using electric power, it entails danger for them who merely rely on sounds of approaching vehicles when they are walking across the pedestrian lanes and at parking lots.
"I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and negotiate accordingly. I hadn't imagined there was anything I really wouldn't be able to hear," said Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the National Federation of the Blind's Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety.

"We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn't hear it." she added.

There had been notably increasing demand for hybrid vehicles to go with increasing concerns for harmful emissions from the average vehicles. According to the company, the Toyota Prius remains to be the best-selling hybrid vehicle selling 460,000 units since its introduction on the year 2000. Aside from the Prius, the Japanese automaker also launched several hybrid versions of the Camry and other Lexus models.

According to Mike Camissa, the safety director for the manufacturer’s association, the group is working on “the possibility of setting a minimum noise level standard for hybrid vehicles”.

According to officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration comprising the two arms of the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are also aware of the problem but have not studied it and the possible solutions.

The government, in an effort to popularize the use of hybrid vehicles, gave tax credits for consumers who buy hybrids.

Toyota is the leader in hybrid sales and tax credits for the Prius, the Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, and the upscale Lexus RX400h are now diminishing. By the end of October, tax credits offered with these hybrids will be gone. This expiration of the tax credit may push consumers away from buying hybrid cars. This might be the case unless Congress steps in and extends the tax credits offered to hybrid car buyers. Tax credits for hybrids can range from as low as $250 to as high as $3,400. Unless Congress extends them, these hybrid credits will disappear after 2010. The credits expire after an automaker sells 60,000 vehicles; the credit will then be phased out over the next few months. Toyota's Prius reached 60,000 sold last summer, but if you buy before October 1, you still get a partial credit: $787.50.

Even with the Accord Hybrid discontinued, the tax credit will still diminish as the Civic Hybrid gains popularity. Mazda has the Tribute Hybrid and the hybrid vehicle recently qualified for tax credits.

Toyota's nationwide tour with the theme "Highway to the Future: Mobile Hybrid Experience" will be proceeding to the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Mo. on August 17-19, 2007.

According to Toyota, the Highway to the Future: Mobile Hybrid Experience is "designed to provide attendees with the opportunity to experience Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system, which is found in the Prius, Camry hybrid and Highlander hybrid vehicles, for themselves."

The four interactive learning areas in the Mobile Hybrid Experience include:

- "Alternative Fuels: Fueling the Future"
- "Environment and Resources: Small Steps, Big Difference"
- The Prius Driving Experience
- The "Hybrid Technology: Not All Hybrids are Created Equal"

With "Highway to the Future: Mobile Hybrid Experience", participants can:

- See how Toyota Hybrids generate electricity with regenerative braking.
- Find out how much carbon you emit with the Carbon Footprint Calculator.
- Learn about the future of energy in the Alternative Fuels exhibit.
- Try the Hybrid Savings Calculator and see how much money you'll save by driving a hybrid vehicle.
- Experience Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive technology for yourself in the Prius Driving
- Experience or demo drive one if the Toyota Hybrids n display (where available)

Aside from exhibits and educational activities part of the "Highway to the Future: Mobile Hybrid Experience" is the planting of more than 50,000 trees in honor of those who join in conjunction with the National Arbor Day Foundation. These trees will at the same time offset the carbon footprint of the trucks transporting the tour around the country.