Toyota Mirai: around the world 50 times

MIRAI INSIDE OUT How it works

TOKYO, Japan—Among the more fascinating revelations during the Toyota Technology event in Tokyo last month was the actual distance the Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV) units were driven since Toyota began its public road testing in 2008.

“Each of the 100 FCV units was actually driven in Japan and the United States for 20,000 kilometers, so the cumulative distance has been over 2 million kilometers,” Yoshikazu Tanaka, ZF deputy chief engineer of Toyota Motor Corp.’s Product Planning Group, told Inquirer Motoring.

Two million kilometers, just for public road tests: that’s equivalent to circling the Earth’s 40,000-km circumference 50 times, or 2.5 round trips between the Earth and the moon.

During the orientation, Inquirer Motoring learned further that the FCV test drives were done mostly at test courses in Toyota head offices as well as at a Fuji facility, and in US test courses.

The Research and Development group were given specialized number plates so that the Mirai test units were allowed to run in public highways as well. This way, the Mirai units were

Tanaka literally in touch with the future

subjected to varying driving conditions.

Those 2 million km revealed to Tanaka’s team some interesting conclusions, including the observation that FCVs (or the Mirai, at least) is much more efficient than hybrid vehicles, “by about 1.7 times,” Tanaka stressed.

This writer was given the wheel of the Mirai for a few laps at the Odaiba car park—yes, the distances we drove in the Mirai were microscopic compared to its total test logs—but the nonstop rains and the nippy air prevented many of us from venturing out of the heated comforts of the Odaiba tent.

Throw any notion of NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) out the window when it comes to driving the Mirai. It is uncannily quiet, due to the absence of a fossil fuel-powered engine, and has an incredibly well-insulated interior.

And, true to Tanaka’s claim, the Mirai felt much more powerful in all of the drive aspects compared to the hybrid Prius. Yet, the Mirai felt heavy during sharp turns. Tanaka quipped, “It’s totally quiet, and runs so smooth, as if you’re driving on ice.”

Tanaka then pointed to Mirai’s window, which he termed as the “acoustic glass.”

Scaled-down version of how FCVs are charged

“In between those two glasses that make up Mirai’s window is a special film. This form of acoustic glass is only used in only one other model, the Lexus LS.”

Inquirer Motoring had earlier reported that Mirai (which means “the future” in Japanese) would be built at Toyota Motor Corp.’s Motomachi plant in the Aichi Prefecture, where the Lexus LFA supercars were once produced.

The all-new Mirai hydrogen FCV was scheduled to be launched in this city on Dec. 15, and would be sold through Toyota and Toyopet dealers. The initial sales target was set at about 400 units in Japan by end-2015, while sales in the United States and Europe commences by the second half of 2015.

Mirai uses the Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS), which features both fuel cell and hybrid technologies, and includes Toyota’s new proprietary FC Stack and high-pressure hydrogen tanks.

TFCS is more energy-efficient than internal combustion engines, and emits no carbon dioxide or substances of concern (SOCs) when driven. Drivers can also expect the same level of

Yoshikazu Tanaka, a hybrid plug-in and fuel cell vehicle expert PHOTOS BY TESSA R. SALAZAR

convenience as offered by gasoline engine vehicles, with a generous cruising range and a hydrogen refueling time of about three minutes.

Mirai uses hydrogen—the most abundant element in the universe—as fuel to generate electricity. Toyota engineers explained that hydrogen can be generated using a wide range of natural resources and man-made by-products such as sewage sludge. It can also be created from water using natural renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

When compressed, hydrogen has a higher energy density than batteries, and is relatively easy to store and transport. Therefore, hydrogen also carries expectations for potential future use in power generation and a wide range of other applications.

FCVs are able to generate their own electricity from hydrogen, which means they can help make a future hydrogen-based society a reality, and are therefore expected to further contribute to accelerating energy diversification.