AP Television
Las Vegas, US - 5 January 2015
1. Various of hydrogen-powered Toyota 'Mirai' vehicle
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bob Carter, Senior Vice President, Toyota Motor Sales, Automotive Operations:
"'The future' is what the 'Mirai' means in Japanese, and it's arriving in October this year in the US. The Toyota Mirai is a mid-sized, four-door sedan - its front wheels are driven by electric motors. The electricity that powers the motors is made on-board, on-demand, as needed by simply combining hydrogen with oxygen, producing zero emissions, other than water vapour. Unlike other electric cars that rely on large batteries for power, this Mirai can be re-fuelled, as the doctor (Michio Kaku) said, in three to five minutes and travels up about 300 miles on a single fill-up. It will start up in the morning at minus 30 degrees Centigrade, below zero, and as many of you have already heard...(power cuts out) Wait just a moment, this happened in rehearsal - I got you covered (connects vehicle to power 'home' on stage). Now, as I was saying, as many of you already know - this Mirai is capable of supplying enough energy to power your home essentials as well as all of your consumer electronics in an average home for up to a week, in the event of an emergency."
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bob Carter, Senior Vice President, Toyota Motor Sales, Automotive Operations:
"Traditionally, intellectual properties are fiercely guarded, because they have great monetary value. But with programmes like the CSRC (Collaborative Safety Research Centre) Steve and our patent announcements today - it's obvious that there can be a higher societal value in openly sharing our IP. By eliminating the traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the metabolism of everyone's research and development and move into a future of mobility, quicker, more effectively and more economically. Indeed, I believe that today marks a turning point in automotive history. I'm going to close with a quote that captures the idea from President Abraham Lincoln, who said: 'The best way to predict the future, is to create it'. And that's what we're doing at Toyota."
4. Close of screen reading: "Toyota. #ToyotaMirai"
5. Wide of Carter on stage, UPSOUND: (English) "Please accept my thanks for all of you coming and I hope you enjoy CES tomorrow. Good afternoon"; applause
LEADIN:
Toyota gave the automotive industry a hydrogen-powered kick at the International CES event in Las Vegas.
The Japanese car manufacturers announced they're set to make available thousands of hydrogen fuel cell patents royalty-free, in a bid to encourage the industry.
Toyota's new sporty-looking hydrogen-powered 'Mirai' is the backdrop for the Japanese auto makers press event at the International CES in Las Vegas.
Bob Carter, who is Senior Vice President of automotive operations at Toyota, explains the mechanics of the vehicle.
"The Toyota Mirai is a mid-sized, four-door sedan - its front wheels are driven by electric motors. The electricity that powers the motors is made on-board, on-demand, as needed by simply combining hydrogen with oxygen, producing zero emissions, other than water vapour."
In the middle of his speech - a moment of drama as the power cut.
"I got you covered," assured Carter, as he connected a wire from the Mirai to re-boot the power in the briefing room and light up a mock-up home on stage.
"This Mirai is capable of supplying enough energy to power your home essentials as well as all of your consumer electronics in an average home for up to a week, in the event of an emergency," explains Carter.
But the high-profile event wasn't about announcing a new vehicle or component, but about giving something away.
In a bid to encourage the hydrogen auto industry to flourish, Carter announced that Toyota is set to invite royalty-free use of approximately 5,680 fuel cell related patents.
That includes critical technologies developed for the new 'Mirai' - which means "the future" in Japanese.
The list includes approximately 1,970 patents related to fuel cell stacks, 290 associated with high-pressure hydrogen tanks, 3,350 related to fuel cell systems' software control and 70 patents related to hydrogen production and supply.
By releasing these patents, Toyota are hoping to encourage the industry to flourish.
"It's obvious that there can be a higher societal value in openly sharing our IP," says Carter.
"By eliminating the traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the metabolism of everyone's research and development and move into a future of mobility, quicker, more effectively and more economically."
The Toyota executive ended his speech with a quote from former President Abraham Lincoln.
"'The best way to predict the future, is to create it'. And that's what we're doing at Toyota."
Toyota unveiled the 'Mirai' - their first ever hydrogen-powered vehicle - at a press event in Tokyo in November.
The success of the vehicle and other hydrogen cars depends on an infrastructure growing to encourage drivers to buy them.
Other Asian automakers, Honda and Hyundai, are also experimenting with limited sales and leases of fuel cell cars.
Automotive tech is set to be a big talking point at this year's International CES event in Las Vegas.
A variety of self-driving cars and integrated dashboards will demonstrate how seriously the car industry considers putting smart tech into their vehicles.
A record 10 automotive manufacturers are set to exhibit at the event including Toyota, Ford, BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
Automotive exhibits will cover over 165,000 square feet of event space, 17 percent more than last year.
The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will run 6-9 January 2015.
The annual technology event is set to showcase over 3,500 exhibitors including big tech companies like Sony, Samsung and LG.
