Toyota unveils the new hydrogen-powered Mirai
Wed 26 November 2014
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Toyota has announced that it will be launching its new Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in Japan on 15 December, before introducing it in the UK and selected European markets by September 2015.
The name Mirai is Japanese for future. The hydrogen-powered car has a 300 mile range and can be refuelled in under 5 minutes. Toyota says the vehicle is the result of two decades of research. Its initial release will be limited to 700 vehicles globally, with only 50-100 expected to be shipped to the UK, Germany and Denmark in Europe.
In Japan, sales of the vehicle will be restricted to Toyota dealers in the areas of Japan that already have a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. Toyota has said it believes it can popularise hydrogen as a fuel just as it has pioneered hybrid technology in the past 16 years. However, support for hydrogen in the US has waned with the rise in popularity of electric vehicles, championed in particular by Tesla.
Toyota has developed a new, compact, high-efficiency, high-capacity converter to boost the power generated in the fuel cell stack to 650 volts. Increasing the voltage has made it possible to reduce the size of the electric motor and the number of fuel cells, leading to a smaller fuel cell system that gives higher performance with reduced costs.
Recently revealed at the Paris motor show, the car will sell for around £43,000 in Europe.
Meanwhile, another Japanese manufacturer, Honda, plans to launch a production version of its FCV Concept in Japan, followed by the US and Europe, by the end of March 2016.
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