Toyota’s Mirai hits the road in oil-rich Emirates
USA - Toyota is putting the pedal to the metal as it promotes its hydrogen-powered car in the oil producing United Arab Emirates. Energy companies from Abu Dhabi will be working with Toyota to showcase its newest hydrogen-powered vehicle for use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The companies involved include Adnoc, Masdar, Al Futtaim Motors, and Air Liquide (an industrial hydrogen provider). If successful, they plan to roll out more hydrogen-fueled cars to help the UAE lower emissions and meet the targets set by the climate accord. They are also constructing a refilling station that can charge the fuel cells, which begins in May. Once completed, Toyota’s Mirai (pronounced Me-Rye) will undergo tests for safety and driving issues. In the U.S., there are about 1,000 Mirai (all in California) with an MSRP of $35,000, which is substantially cheaper than Tesla’s #Governmentsubsidized electric vehicles. Concomitantly, the Masdar Institute will study the viability of creating an all-hydrogen society and cost-effective hydrogen production. Government agencies can obtain short-term leases to the new vehicles to understand how fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) work. In 2016, mechanical testing of the Mirai was undertaken in the UAE and a demo refueling station was built at Al Futtaim in Al Badia.
An FCV provides power when the compressed hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen from the air, which generates electricity to power the engine. Unlike electric vehicles, the FCVs fill up just like regular cars and aren’t weighed down by heavy lithium batteries. Right now the 2016 Mirai gets 502 kilometers (312 miles) per fill-up. That’s substantially farther than even the most robust electric vehicle (EV). The Mirai gets 66 mpg with an annual fuel cost of $1,250.
Compared to traditional gasoline-powered cars, the Mirai is classified as a zero-emissions vehicle. The Emirates may seem like an unlikely place to test a hydrogenpowered vehicle given its oil and natural gas reserves. But after ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement, they were committed to lowering greenhouse-gas emissions that hasten #Climate Change. Vehicles in the UAE produce 22 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.