While fuel cell cars aren’t exactly the most common vehicles around in the US, they do exist and drivers do need a place to refuel their vehicles. Latest to join the ranks of other refill stations out there is a new station from Shell and Toyota. But this station is not like any other hydrogen station – it is the first pipeline-fed hydrogen station in the country. And the station resides on Torrance, right next to the headquarters of Toyota Motor Sales, conveniently within the proximity of the airport and major freeways.
Unlike other stations that have their hydrogen delivered to them by truck and then stored, the Shell-Toyota station serves its hydrogen from an existing and active pipeline. This means that the station won’t have to deal with fuel running out, and customers don’t have to wait long to get their cars filled – up to four vehicles can refuel simultaneously in less than five minutes. With only a handful of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Starting with this station, Toyota plans to roll out many more similar stations in the future, setting up the hydrogen refueling infrastructure in the country before they begin mass marketing hydrogen-powered vehicles in 2015.