Unveiled in full last month, the bizarre-looking Toyota Mirai FCV claims to be “the future of driving.” The Japanese automaker has now released a few videos explaining why it thinks the Mirai deserves such a bold tagline – other than the name literally meaning ‘future’ in Japanese, that is.
The first video above explains Toyota’s new fuel cell technology in great detail – no fossil fuel used, zero CO2 emissions and of course, just water vapour released to the environment. Its “refuelling” time is measured in minutes (just three), not hours like in electric vehicles.
Another claim that jumps out is that the Mirai is “fun to drive.” Like, really? It’s said to offer exceptionally smooth acceleration (Toyota’s words, not ours), as well as “extremely stable handling,” aided by its low centre of gravity. The drive is “an absolute pleasure,” thanks to a body that’s significantly more rigid compared to that of a conventional vehicle.
Do pardon all the quotation marks, as these are very, very bold claims indeed. Numbers offered in these videos include the Mirai’s 0-96 km/h and 48-80 km/h times (9.0 and 3.6 seconds respectively), total driving range (483 km) and boot space (361 litres). If you have time to spare, do give these clips a look. Enjoy.
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Clearly stated future…so in the year 2099?
If Proton rebadge it, the name will become Proton Murai.
nice! very futuristic.
..future battle might be between battery powered vs hydrogen powered EV car.
cant wait to see this car hit malaysia…no more worry about petrol subsidy and government politics! unless they want to control the hydrogen price!
Well 96% of hydrogen production today still come from fossil fuel (NG, crude oil, coal)…
What about safety? Upon impact will it explore like a hydrogen bomb?
I think you mean explode…
In that case, no…
Hydrogen bomb doesn’t work like that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon
Explosion upon impact is also very, very unlikely. Trust me, I’m an Engineer.
It takes 3 minutes to refuel or recharge. This is definitely the future of hybrid ….. But u know our government don’t like the future. I better stick back to my Axia EEV car.
I’m sure toyota makes great cars, but i’m more interested to know how will toyota and it’s partners process enough hydrogen while still lowering the carbon footprint?
will they start burning things to obtain H2? or start drilling again into the earth? maybe even pump in toxic chemicals and dig rare earth to collect enough H2?
I did a bit of googling and I found this.
Lets believe in our scientist. =D
http://phys.org/news/2014-09-hydrogen-production-breakthrough-herald-cheap.html
Let just don’t care about design. The technology should be great.
And Sam Loo, does this have RV? Gonna get myself one in future.
This could be the turning point of future automotive. If they can lower the price to a more public acceptable level, i’m pretty sure it be selling well!
Yay!! In the future were drive an ugly box and non-driver’s car!!
Why does the back has to look like this? Nice tech explanation. Produces water. They should just store it in the car into a cup for drinking. :D
Yea… The front, aggresive, marvelous.
The back… Hideous ==
looks like nobody here appreciate the technology. this might be the future of automotive. its a million times better than our hybrids & EVs we are having right now!
Even though I appreciate the technology, does it mean that I need to appreciate that design? seriously, the design could be better.