Be the first to test drive Toyota Mirai
Zero-emission car world’s first commercially available hydrogen-powered vehicle
It’s now been over three years since I was among a handful of North American journalists given the opportunity to drive the future. Or at least, Toyota’s hydrogen-powered vision of the future, the Mirai FCEV (incidentally, Mirai is the Japanese word for future).
You’ll have your own chance to be among the first Canadians to drive the Mirai later this month during the Electric Vehicle Experience Test Drive Program at the 2018 Vancouver International Auto Show.
Rereading the First Drive story I wrote back in November of 2014 of that brief drive of the Mirai in Southern California, I noted that, “By the end of 2017, Toyota officials estimate 2,000 Mirais will be on U.S. (read: California) roads.” A reality check today shows that Mirai sales in California have in fact surpassed 3,000, indicating Toyota must be more than pleased by the adoption of their revolutionary vehicle. According to the automaker, that number represents more than 80 per cent of all hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV) sales in the United States.
When it debuted back in late 2014, the zero emission four-seater was billed as the world’s first commercially available FCEV. However the use of the word ‘world’ was, and three years later still is, a little misleading. Since public hydrogen-fuelling stations are as rare as Canucks’ victories, the Mirai was only available in Japan, California and select parts of Europe at its launch and very few new locales since.
One of those, however, is Quebec. That announcement was made at the recent Montreal Auto Show, and given that Hydro Québec is the world’s fourth-largest producer of clean hydro-electricity makes perfect sense. Toyota Canada has been working with partners in Quebec over the past year — in particular, the Ministries of Energy, Envi- ronment, and Transportation — to establish the introduction of a fuelling infrastructure in the province.
As we’ve seen from the onward march of the plug-in electric vehicle segment, a charging infrastructure is key to growth of that market. The challenge facing hydrogen-powered vehicles that unlike plug-in EVs, owners can’t recharge at home as the cost, let alone the zoning regulations, make a home-based hydrogen fuelling system a non-starter.
That said, with a hydrogen-powered infrastructure in place, FCEVs like the Mirai provide zero-emission operation with benefits not found in plug-in EVs. First and foremost, the Mirai’s full-tank range north of 500 kilometres eliminates range anxiety. And unlike the hours it takes to recharge a plug-in, refuelling the Mirai takes about five minutes. And third, the Mirai has proven cold-weather reliability, key to establishing a foothold in places like Quebec.
So, how does the Mirai work? Think of it as an electric vehicle that charges its onboard batteries not by being plugged in but rather by an onboard chemical reaction. By combining hydrogen and oxygen, the system produces two things: electricity and water. The former feeds the lithium-ion battery pack to produce 151 peak horsepower and up to 247 lbs.-ft of torque; the latter is emitted from the tailpipe.
As to the driving experience, the Mirai has all the hallmarks of a plugin EV, most notably super smooth and very quiet running.
No word yet if and when the Mirai FCEV will be on sale in B.C., as currently there is just one hydrogen fuelling station available to the public in Metro Vancouver, operated by BC Hydro at its Surrey office. However, late last week came word that Shell and the Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation (HTEC) were partnering to open what they refer to as Canada’s first retail hydrogen fuelling station in Vancouver later this year. According to the press release, “(T)his station will be the first in a six-station network HTEC is building in Greater Vancouver and Victoria to enable the deployment of the first 1,000 zero emission hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in British Columbia.” The release says time-frame for that build-out is 18 months and will include the development of a clean hydrogen fuel generation facility.
For tickets and more information about your chance to drive this vehicle and others during the public drive program visit vancouverinternationalautoshow.com. The 2018 Vancouver International Auto Show takes place March 28 to April 1 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.