Toyota set to phase out gasoline cars by 2050

Toyota is working on plans to reduce CO2 emissions of its new vehicles by 90 per cent before the year 2050.

The initiative forms the first of six from the Japanese auto major to address environmental challenges.

The pledge is powered by the desire of the company to help mitigate the effects of global warming on the planet.

''While the world is trying to move toward a 'below 2 °C'' scenario' Toyota has, under the 'New Vehicle Zero CO2 Challenge', decided to challenge itself to reduce vehicle CO2'', the company stated in a press release.

Besides, vehicle emissions, the company also identified five other important ''environmental challenges'', including manufacturing vehicles with  'lifetime zero emissions' including the energy used in the production of the materials used in the car, as also during the production processes.

Toyota has also set out to minimise water use, enhance recycling, and build a future society ''in harmony with nature''.

Meanwhile, Honda is taking the hydrogen fuel cells route to address similar challenges having launched the first production fuel-cell car, the Honda FCX Clarity, which was released in California over seven years ago.

But competition has arrived with Toyota's Mirai and Hyundai's ix35 Fuel Cell. Honda's answer to the challenge is the Honda FCX which will be coming to the UK.

Though there was still time for the production-ready version of the upcoming Honda FCV, Honda's second attempt at a family-friendly hydrogen fuel-cell car has generated much interest.

How the hydrogen fuel-cell system works in cars like the Honda FCV would be clear if one considered the FCV as an electric car that needed to be filled up with a fuel (in this case, compressed hydrogen) like a petrol or diesel car.

The driven wheels draw power from an electric motor, but the power comes from mixing oxygen with the hydrogen stored in the car's fuel cells – rather than from batteries like in normal electric cars.