Daihatsu to Unveil Ammonia-Hydrogen Co-Firing Engine at Bizweek 2026

Daihatsu is preparing to put a physical ammonia/hydrogen co-firing engine on public display for the first time, with the unit set to appear at the Japan Mobility Show Bizweek 2026. The exhibition runs from 13 to 16 October 2026 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, and the automaker is using the event less as a victory lap and more as a recruiting drive: it is actively hunting for partners to help solve ammonia reforming, exhaust purification, downsizing, safety and supply infrastructure challenges.

The engine itself is still firmly in the development stage. It pulls ammonia from a dedicated tank and uses an engine-mounted plasma reactor and catalyst to convert a portion of that ammonia into hydrogen. That hydrogen is then burned alongside the remaining ammonia. The logic is straightforward enough: ammonia on its own is notoriously difficult to ignite, so the hydrogen acts as a combustion aid to deliver stable burning and acceptable driving range. Daihatsu frames ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, pointing to its ease of liquefaction and comparatively high energy density as the reasons it remains worth pursuing.

That the company is publishing an open list of unsolved problems alongside the hardware is telling. Reforming, aftertreatment and packaging are all still live issues, and the infrastructure question — where the ammonia actually comes from and how it reaches vehicles — remains unresolved. Daihatsu’s willingness to air these gaps suggests it sees collaboration rather than solo development as the realistic path forward.

The engine is only one strand of a broader energy presentation. A containerised direct current microgrid, undergoing trials since 2025, combines solar generation and stationary storage with battery electric vehicles used as mobile batteries. At Daihatsu’s Shiga (Ryuo) plant, biogas sourced from local Omi cattle manure is being used as factory fuel, with the fermentation residue sent back to farms in a closed-loop arrangement.

A second theme at the show covers artificial intelligence and community transport. Daihatsu will present an in-house no-code tool that allows factory teams to build their own AI inspection models without specialist programming skills. Alongside it sits Goissho, a shared transport service aimed at welfare and nursing care facilities, designed to help ease persistent staff shortages in those sectors.