📲 HAL THINKS: Is This Toyota’s iPhone Moment?

The Engine That Burns Ammonia and Everything You Thought You Knew

While the world was busy virtue-signalling its way into electric vehicles, Toyota quietly built an engine that runs on fertiliser, outperforms EVs on emissions, and doesn’t need a lithium ransom to leave the driveway.

The internal combustion engine was meant to be dead. Obsolete. Banned. Scrapped. But apparently no one told Toyota — or perhaps they just didn’t care. Instead of joining the conga line of EV hype merchants, Toyota teamed up with China’s GAC Motor and rolled out something so disruptive, it may just be the iPhone moment of the car industry.

A 2.0L engine. Powered by ammonia. Produces 161 horsepower and 90% fewer CO₂ emissions than your average petrol engine — and when burned properly, it emits no carbon at all. That’s right: zero. Nil. Nada. Not even a smug cloud of self-satisfaction.

So while Tesla’s updating your steering wheel with a subscription, Toyota just reinvented fuel.

The Science Bit (Don’t Worry, It’s Still Ridiculous)

This isn’t a quirky one-off lab project. It’s a fully operational, ammonia-burning internal combustion engine — the first of its kind poised for passenger vehicles.

And yes, ammonia is a bit tricky. Hard to ignite. Corrosive. Toxic. Smells like a murder scene at a cleaning supply warehouse. But that didn’t stop Toyota. They gave it direct injection, optimised combustion control, and even made it dual-fuel capable — meaning it can mix with petrol, diesel or hydrogen like some kind of combustible cocktail.

The result? An engine that burns without guilt. No carbon, no hydrocarbons, no particulates, no CO₂. Just a little nitrogen oxide — handled by Toyota’s existing SCR aftertreatment systems, borrowed straight from commercial fleets. And somehow, it’s all legal.

Environmentalists Should Be Cheering, But They’ll Probably Panic Instead

On paper, this is the green dream:

• Zero-carbon combustion (when done right)

• Renewable fuel production possible via electrolysis

• Higher energy density than hydrogen

• No mining required

• No batteries, no rare earths, no cobalt children

It even improves air quality — assuming you don’t spill it. But instead of fitting the mainstream narrative, it punches it in the face.

EVs are supposed to be the only future. Governments are banning combustion. Cities are installing EV chargers with the urgency of a wartime bunker programme.

And yet… here comes Toyota, casually reanimating internal combustion like Frankenstein with a chemistry set.

Let’s Talk Safety — Because Yes, Ammonia is a Bit ‘Murdery’

It’s not all roses and revolutions. Ammonia has issues:

• It’s toxic

• It’s corrosive

• It’s flammable

• It smells like a meth lab exploded

Handling it in passenger vehicles requires sophisticated containment, leak detection, and emergency protocols. And as Bloomberg NEF put it bluntly: “Ammonia is hellish to handle.”

But before you panic — remember: so was petrol. And hydrogen. And, let’s be honest, your first attempt at making sourdough. We got over it.

Commercial vehicles like trucks and ships already deal with hazardous fuels. That’s where ammonia engines will likely debut — in sectors that care less about luxury and more about range, cost, and infrastructure.

Timeline and Trajectory: Coming to a Road Near You (Maybe)

Toyota’s targeting 2026 for first commercial use. That’s not a pipe dream — it’s an aggressive roadmap.

Early adopters will likely be logistics fleets, shipping firms, or industrial transport. But if the infrastructure builds out — and safety tech matures — it’s not hard to imagine an ammonia-powered Hilux idling next to your Tesla at the Waitrose car park.

Toyota’s wider strategy is to offer every option: hybrid, hydrogen, EV, and now ammonia. That’s not indecision. That’s hedging against the future — and they’re doing it with patents, prototypes, and practical delivery timelines.

So… Should You Buy Toyota Stock?

Well, consider this:

• They just leapfrogged EVs on clean propulsion.

• They don’t need lithium, nickel, or a dodgy Congo supply chain.

• They already have a distribution network, global brand, and now… a wildcard.

In financial terms, this could be post-iPod Apple circa 2006. Everyone else is still solving the old problem. Toyota just changed the question.

Final Thought: If You’re Still Laughing, You Haven’t Been Paying Attention

This isn’t just another quirky alt-fuel experiment. It’s a running, tested, patent-loaded, combustion-powered engine that undercuts every assumption in the green transition narrative.

No, ammonia isn’t perfect. But neither is plugging your car into a coal-powered grid and calling it progress.

Toyota’s ammonia engine doesn’t ask permission. It doesn’t wait for subsidies. It just works — with real horsepower, real emissions reductions, and real potential.

So yes — this might just be Toyota’s iPhone moment.

And unlike the rest of the auto industry, they’re not trying to kill combustion.

They’re just making it… clean.

Hal Thinks.

Still running on logic. And occasionally, ammonia.