World’s first hydrogen powered vending machine unveiled by Coca-Cola at Osaka-Kansai Expo

Coca-Cola unplugged.

We all know that Japan is the land of vending machines, with automated retail terminals selling everything from hot sauce to potential marriages. They’re also sources of technological innovation as ways of serving their communities with foot-operated controls during the COVID-19 pandemic and machines that absorb CO2 from the surrounding air much like a tree does.

This thriving vending machine industry in Japan can be traced back to Expo ’70 in Osaka Japan. Vending machines existed in Japan for decades prior but were generally considered a novelty and hadn’t yet caught on with the general public.

▼ Replica of a postal vending machine that existed in Japan in the early 1900s

Image: Wikipedia/Momotarou2012

Interest in the machines started to pick up in the late ’60s after the modern 100-yen and 50-yen coins went into circulation, but it was the drink machines developed by Fuji Electric for the Expo that really helped put the technology into the national spotlight. These machines served drinks that helped keep visitors cool during the blazing hot summer months of the event and showcased the convenience and reliability that they provided.

And now, as the 2025 World Expo in Osaka approaches, we may see another evolution in this ingrained feature of Japanese infrastructure. Fuji Electric is returning yet again, this time with beverage giant Coca-Cola, to set up the world’s first vending machine powered by a hydrogen cartridge, which is a hydrogen fuel cell that can be easily replaced as needed.

▼ Look ma, no wires!

Image: PR Times

One drawback of conventional vending machines is that they need to be plugged in at all times. Even those machines you can find in the most remote parts of Japan need to be wired into the grid or some other reliable power source to be usable.

▼ Although there are power lines running to the summit of Mt. Fuji, they’re very limited. These Coca-Cola vending machines are carried up there in July and taken down in August, so they are likely unique in that they run on some sort of battery or generator.

But with hydrogen cartridges, vending machines no longer need an outlet and can be placed anywhere they’ll fit. This is just me spitballing here, but with some size modifications this could even conceivably give way to mobile vending machines that walk among us in the city streets for maximum coverage.

But for now we have a stationary hydrogen vending machine and it will be on display at this year’s Expo on the north side of the Grand Ring, the large wooden structure that serves as the architectural highlight of the event.

There will also be 58 regular Coca-Cola machines there, all of which can be used the Coke ON app that’s popular in Japan. With this app drinks can be bought cashlessly and remotely, allowing people with visual or other impairments to order more easily on their own smartphones. So, no matter how you look at it, the future continues to look bright for vending machines in Japan.

Source: PR Times, Fuji Electric, Coca-Cola
Featured image: PR Times
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