The technical director of the brand, Hiroki Nakajima, admitted that the project was not successful: the fact is that the infrastructure for cars using hydrogen fuel cells is poorly developed – for example, in the United States there are only 57 hydrogen filling stations, and they are all located in one state, in California. As a result, over the nine months of 2023, the brand managed to sell 2.6 thousand Mirai units – although this is more than last year, but only because of the low base of 2022.
The publication Autocar quotes the words of Toyota technical director Hiroki Nakajima: during the Japan Mobility Show, which is taking place these days in Tokyo, he said that to popularize hydrogen cars, more gas stations are needed, and due to their absence, the project of the hydrogen Mirai “never became successful.” Nakajima believes that hydrogen fuel cells are more suitable not for ordinary passenger cars, but for commercial ones that drive between two specific points. So Toyota decided to focus on this area, and Suzuki will help it in this.
As for the Mirai, since its appearance on the market in 2014, the model has sold around the world in the amount of about 15 thousand copies, with most of the hydrogen vehicles sold in the USA. In 2020, the model changed generations, moved to the TNGA GA-L platform and became more technologically advanced. And at the end of 2022, the Mirai underwent restyling and acquired an HD display for the multimedia system, which now displays information in full screen mode.
The Mirai is powered by a fuel cell engine – hydrogen is converted through an electrochemical reaction into electricity, which powers the traction motors. The power of the drive electric motor is 184 horsepower, and hydrogen is stored in three cylinders. The power reserve is 750-850 kilometers. For comparison, the first generation Mirai traveled 650 kilometers.
New hydrogen cars
