What will automobile technology look like in the coming decades? One possible answer is the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. One such example in San Antonio, Texas was recently sold on eBay.
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Future Propulsion Systems
Most automakers believe the transition from gasoline to electric propulsion systems will take the form of battery-electric vehicles - opens in new window or tab.. Toyota is developing battery-electric vehicles while simultaneously working on fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) like the Mirai. Toyota is the leading proponent of FCVs, which it argues are a form of EV.
Mirai means “future” in Japanese, which is what Toyota believed the car represented when it debuted at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. At the time, it was called the Toyota FCV-R concept.
Two years later, Toyota refined it to a near-production-ready design for the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. It went on sale the following year in Japan and the year after that in the US. It was the first mass-produced car in the world to run on gaseous hydrogen.
Pros and Cons
The beauty of an FCV is that hydrogen is an abundant element that can be extracted from good ol’ water. Electrolysis uses electricity to separate the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atom in water. Electricity isn’t free, but it’s theoretically possible to use a renewable resource like wind or solar to create the fuel.
Reintroducing oxygen to the hydrogen gas creates a chemical reaction that generates electricity to power the Mirai’s motors. The car has no exhaust pipes because the only byproduct is water vapor.
FCVs have some drawbacks. The hydrogen gas must be compressed and stored in specialized tanks similar to scuba tanks. The Mirai requires three of these to hold enough hydrogen to give it its 350-to-400-mile range. Refueling a hydrogen vehicle is much faster than recharging an EV battery, but hydrogen filling stations - opens in new window or tab. are limited in number and expensive to build.
H2 Handsome
The first-generation Mirai was widely regarded as one of the ugliest cars on the road. Its sheet metal, full of odd lines and angles, resembled a deep-sea creature. Toyota corrected the design for the second generation. It crafted a sleek sedan with a graceful, long-hood/short-deck profile. Even better, Toyota moved the electric motor aft, giving the Mirai a traditional rear-wheel-drive layout befitting a luxury sedan.
The second-generation Mirai’s interior is as luxurious as that of any premium car. Some trim levels have options like heated and ventilated rear passenger seats and dual moonroofs. Trunk space is limited, however, due to the hydrogen tanks.
Finding the Right Buyer
California is the only state that has a hydrogen filling station network of any sort. The car sold on eBay was located over 1,300 miles away from the nearest one.
There was an additional caveat. The seller said the $6,995 Buy-It-Now price included an IRS clean vehicle tax credit. The seller expected the buyer to provide the necessary documentation required by the IRS to qualify for the credit. The actual asking price was $11,000.
In the US and Europe, battery-electric cars are widely seen as the successors to gasoline vehicles. But Japan—and Toyota—are still big on hydrogen. No one knows if hydrogen will eventually prevail. Will the Mirai be remembered as a pioneering luxury sedan that can be driven guilt-free?
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