THE MIRAI, which literally means the future, is designed for the future’s mobility needs and demands. AFP
MY 9-YEAR-OLD daughter and I were in the car on the way to school, and we were talking about the car we were in (an Audi S3) which she particularly liked mainly because the seatbelt went down low enough on the shoulder to be comfortable for her.
We discussed the fact that most of the cars in our garage for the moment were four- or all-wheel drives, with one rear and one front.
She asked what she could drive when she grew up, and this reminded me of a comment made by a collector of American muscle cars when asked what classic vintage car he used to drive to the car show, since he had so many to choose from? He had smiled and answered, “a Camry, we all drive Camrys.”
Cars are changing so much nowadays that what we drive and love now may well be something other than the ideal drive to school for a college student.
The propulsion systems may be completely different, especially with the amount of energy and money currently being pushed toward the development of alternative fuels.
While I personally believe that hybrids and electric motors are probably the most palatable way to go for most drivers in most environments, many companies and industry watchers consider them merely part of a journey.
Kind of hard to believe, given how much they have moved into the lives of many around the world, and how much time and effort have been put into the latest hybrid-byword Prius from Toyota.
HYDROGEN gas is being charged to Toyota Motor’s fuel cell vehicle Mirai at an Iwatani refueling station. AFP
Toyota has also committed itself to fuel cells, which are a step up in the ecological direction. In terms of the environment, these cells basically release water out the exhaust, a topic that my kids and I discuss in connection with the book and movie “The Martian.”
With fuel cells, you basically need to fill up with hydrogen rather than gasoline, and this narrows your options quite a bit. Early uses for hydrogen fuel cell transport include fleet truck and bus use and forklift operations.
However, Toyota is releasing a new fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, to the buying public in selected parts of the world, places such as in California, where commitment to the environment is putting refueling infrastructure in place to give cars a viable fuel alternative other than gasoline and diesel.
This will, of course, take a while in other places, including ours sadly, but look at the Mirai to be the leader of true market change, just like the Prius.
The Toyota Mirai is a basic four-door car that looks like no other. If you look at current electric and hybrid cars, they generally have a slightly different design that allows you to distinguish them from “regular” cars. This can take some getting used to.
LEFTMOST, the Mirai is the embodiment of Toyota’s commitment to fuel cells.
The Mirai is that on a whole new level. In terms of the interior, it has the feel of a more premium-level Prius, in the sense that it is clearly a more upscale vehicle. The way it drives is relatively straightforward for the driver, with noise levels generally the same as in an electric or hybrid.
All this belies the fact that this is probably one of the most complex small vehicles on the road today. The fuel cell stack takes air from the atmosphere and hydrogen from the tanks to create electricity which powers the motor, and releases water out the tailpipe instead of exhaust.
Fuel cell technology has been around, but getting it usable for a daily-drive car took quite a bit of research and development. Stronger, smaller and more efficient fuel cells had to be developed that allowed more performance while using up less space.
Toyota claims it has increased its fuel cell relative energy output and efficiency by 50 percent since its last system was tested in 2008. They sit below the front seats, which means you cannot stick your feet there if you are sitting in the back.
The rear seat, though, adjusts for this and is higher, because underneath it sits new lighter hydrogen tanks. As a result the posture for those in the rear is more upright but not necessarily less comfortable.
The fact that all these mass and weight are low in the car is good, and contributes to the relatively stable handling and solid feel of the car as you go into corners.
LEFT, the Mirai’s impressive console
We did slow-speed slalom runs with the car at the Fuji Speedway and we never felt the car bouncing around. It would settle into wide corners nicely, though we need to say that the car was not run to its full high-speed or chassis-testing potential yet.
It is a nice workable drive for most daily uses, but you do need to keep in mind that it is a heavy car (1,850 kilograms), so a lot of work is being done by the electric powerplant (152 BHP, think of the electric motor used in the wonderful Lexus 450h), the brakes, the suspension and so on.
All this has been compensated for with things like lower center of gravity (placement of fuel cell stack and tanks) and torsional rigidity of the body that is 40 to 60 percent higher than other front-wheel-drive vehicles of the brand.
Steering the Mirai around is light and pleasant, though not with a lot of feedback. It very much reminded me of the first time I drove a Prius, in that the feeling of such quiet is a luxury in itself.
If you had the infrastructure in place, the Mirai could be a viable vehicle for many consumers. It is actually more at home on long drives than the Prius hybrid; as such that is where it will show the most efficiency, as opposed to hybrids that tend to shine in cities.
It takes three to five minutes to fully fill up a tank, so not that bad there. Estimated cruising range based on Toyota figures would be approximately 650 km in Japanese use.
The word Mirai literally means the future. The car is designed for the future’s mobility needs and demands.
Toyota plans on releasing 700 units for 2015, increasing to 2,000 next year, and 3,000 in 2017, which is conservative given that it claims 1,500 orders in the first month for Japan alone.
The Mirai isn’t seen as normal cars are, but rather as a part of the system in that it can actually supply AC power not just on the road but even while parked in your garage.
It can act as a generator in emergencies, and can produce electrical energy that can be stored for other uses. Remember, the fuel cells take the hydrogen gas in the tanks and use it to create electricity which is used by the electric motor.
Since the car basically produces electricity and clean water, at the end of a long cold day at the Fuji Speedway many of us were wondering if all this would make it possible to turn the whole thing into a rolling espresso machine as well.
Now that would be a wonderful melding of technologies as we roll into the next generation.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
