TAKEHITO YOKOO

Takehito Yokoo is the Founder and Chair of Japan Hydrogen Forum and the former Toyota Motor North America Powertrain Chief Engineer and Senior Executive Engineer of Advanced Fuel Cell. He retired from the Toyota Motor North America R&D Advanced Product Planning Office in 2022. His background includes managing suitability testing of advanced powertrain configurations in North America, coordinating development of new or improved alternate powertrain system controls for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHV), Gasoline Hybrid Vehicles (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV). Also includes strategic planning focusing on technologies that enable sustainable transportation systems.

Starting from 2015, his responsibilities have been extended to large scale Fuel Cell powertrain feasibility in North America. He built world first OEM Fuel Cell heavy duty truck. From 2017 to 2022, the truck was placed in port of Los Angeles drayage operation. It served around 20,000 ZERO EMISSION miles before completing its proof-of-concept program.Furthermore, he founded Japan Hydrogen Forum (JH2F) in 2021 and then became the 1st chairperson of the forum. He leads many Japanese affiliate Hydrogen business experienced companies then promotes US decarbonization. The forum is supported by Japanese government, such as Japan External Trade Organization and Consulate-general of Japan.

Yokoo earned a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Hosei University, Japan, then began his career at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in 1981. He moved to Toyota Technical Center USA (TTC) in 1990 to begin his new career in the US, where he was responsible for managing suitability testing and development of gasoline powertrain control systems in North America.

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