For the final salvo of Toyota Motor Philippines‘ displays at the 9th Philippine International Motor Show, we got to see a tech demonstration of one of Toyota’s approaches to carbon neutrality: the Beyond Zero vision.

The company not only brought over the Corolla Cross H2 Concept from Japan, but also a dedicated hydrogen filling and storage station from Malaysia to showcase a possible future of how hydrogen can work as an alternative source of fuel.

On the outside, there’s nothing special about this Corolla Cross apart from the special H2 livery. The real magic lies in what’s underneath the hood.

Instead of the usual 1.8-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine (2ZR-FXE) mated to a hybrid system, the folks at Toyota Gazoo Racing fitted a 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine (G16E-GTS) that runs on hydrogen fuel.

Instead of using hydrogen to generate electricity (like the Mirai FCEV), the engine utilizes it in a more conventional way—combusting it to drive the wheels.

Toyota dubs this as a HICEV (hydrogen internal-combustion engine vehicle), and it’s a near-zero emission alternative to regular fuels. Yes, there are still trace amounts of NOx (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) emissions, but it is significantly cleaner than even regular hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

Why was Toyota Gazoo Racing responsible for fitting this drivetrain? The motorsports division has been fielding a HICEV race car in Super Taikyu ever since.

Apart from the rather large (and understandably fragile) hydrogen storage and filling infrastructure needed, you drive this car around like a regular ICE vehicle.

During our test run with test driver and engineer Hiroaki Kawahara, he showcased the powertrain under various engine load scenarios.

When cruising and accelerating, the car felt completely normal. Acceleration under full throttle and in Sport mode was also brisk, and shifting via the newly developed eight-speed direct automatic transmission was smooth and seamless.

The car has no compromise when it comes to storage or passenger capacity as two hydrogen tanks are situated under the rear seats and the cargo floor (though ground clearance is affected a bit).

And the best part is, filling it up from empty would just take you five minutes, roughly the same amount of time as fueling up at a gas station. Of course, many questions could not be answered, but know that this technology is constantly being developed across the world in different forms.

You can see the Corolla Cross H2 Concept on the last day of the Philippine International Motor Show (October 27) at World Trade Center in Pasay City.