Here is an interesting test drive review of the second generation Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle from Japan. Its name in Japanese means “Future”.
We are always very interested in the opinion of Car feeling, who looks very positive about the Mirai’s driving experience. The car is comfortable, quiet and relaxing.
However, despite its more sporty appearance in the 2nd version (especially on the 20 “wheels), the Mirai is not very fast (0-100 km / h or 62 km / h in 9.2 seconds). just “fast enough”, but far behind battery-electric models.
The second weaker point appears to be the inner chamber. Autogefühl notes that there is not too much space for tall people, both front and rear, which is another contradiction. At this length of the car we would expect more space. Is it because of the challenging layout of hydrogen tanks that may never make the design freedom of the BEV’s flat skateboards possible?
The range of the Mirai is about 650 km (400 miles) with 5.6 kg of hydrogen (compared to 4.6 kg in the previous generation). The cost of fuel in Germany is estimated at less than € 50 (about $ 60).
At such a fuel price, there is not much room to save on fuel. Compared to driving a conventional car. The amount is similar. The starting price of the car is about € 63,900 (about $ 77,500), 19% VAT included. This is noticeably less than in the case of the first generation, but still a lot.
If we combine the high price without saving on fuel and, moreover, do not supplement any infrastructure for fuel (the stations are very scarce), we do not understand how this can be considered the future of cars.
There is no real advantage in range, price, acceleration / performance, interior space or many other factors over a modern battery electric car.