As announced at the end of last year, our "Fuel Cell Gasket" has been adopted in the new "MIRAI", the FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) made by Toyota Motor Corporation, in continuation from the original "MIRAI".
FCVs run on electricity generated by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the air in a part called the FC stack.
FCVs are also called the "ultimate eco-car" because they are environmentally friendly, emitting only water and no carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and climate change.
What is the Fuel Cell Gasket?
Our cell gasket is a rubber seal component that is installed inside the FC stack that generates the power for the MIRAI.
It is a product that contributes to the FC stack, the very heart of the system, and is responsible for preventing the leakage of hydrogen, oxygen, and water.
The FC stack consists of 330 cells, and each cell is equipped with our product.
The product has been modified to be both higher quality and more durable than the original model, and the manufacturing process has been significantly shortened.
During the launch of the product, many unexpected problems happened, and the people involved had to work very hard.
However, everyone responded honestly and tenaciously, and we were able to overcome the difficulties.
I am truly grateful to all of them.
In addition to developing a product that is higher quality and more durable than the first generation model, we have achieved a dramatic improvement in the manufacturing process through high-speed molding, so our company recently received the "New MIRAI Project Award, Technology Category" from Toyota Motor Corporation.
Mr. Tanaka, Chief Engineer of Toyota, also expressed his appreciation.
In order to continue to be a partner for the next generation of vehicles and beyond, let's all work together in research and development.
EVs (Electric Vehicles) have been in the news a lot lately, but our group is developing products that are all-rounders which can be used for both EVs and FCVs.
For details, please refer to the release.
History of Product Development
In the early 2000s, we began to develop products for FCs.
In 2008, we began joint development of sealing materials with Toyota Motor Corporation.
Our efforts over the years bore fruit, and our cell gaskets were adopted for the first-generation "MIRAI" released in 2014.
The following year, in 2015, we established a company to manufacture and sell FC components, Sumi-Riko FC Seal Co.Ltd.
And Toyota decided to continue using our products for the new “Mirai”.
Our products installed in the new MIRAI
In addition to cell gaskets, the new MIRAI is equipped with our anti-vibration rubber and hoses.
As for our anti-vibration rubber, the FC stack frame mount, the hydrogen tank mount to fix and support the hydrogen tank, and the air compressor mount etc. are adopted.
The hoses for new “Mirai” include a hydrogen hose that supplies hydrogen from the hydrogen tank to the FC stack, an air system hose that supplies oxygen from compressed air to the FC stack, and a FC cooling hose etc., all of which have been developed specifically for FCVs.
The journey to the widespread use of FCVs and the realization of a hydrogen society has only just begun.
This topic was about automobiles, but FCs can be widely deployed in the future in trucks, buses, trains, ships, and infrastructure-related fields.
The hydrogen hoses and other components that we supply will be essential for the realization of this future.
I strongly hope that through these products, we will contribute to the safety of people, society and the earth, our comfort, the environment and help to build social infrastructure.
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