The latest fuel cell vehicle from Toyota, the Mirai, has already greatly exceeded the demand that was first expected before going on sale in Japan. Ahead of the car's official launch in its native market, Toyota expected sales of approximately 400 units in 2015, but demand for the hydrogen fuel cell-powered car has surprised many with close to 1,500 orders being placed for the car so far.
Japan is one of the few markets where hydrogen is widely available hence the reason for launching the car there first and as a result of this consumers are keen to make the most of it. Of the 1,500 or so orders to date Toyota says approximately 60 per cent of them have come from government offices and corporate fleet buyers with the remaining coming from private consumers. The higher-than-expected demand will, says Toyota, lead to longer waiting times for customer deliveries.
The Mirai is powered by a fuel cell stack that combines hydrogen gas from its on-board tank with oxygen in a chemical reaction that generates electricity to power the car's electric motor. Its performance is similar to that of an electric vehicle but takes only three minutes to refill the hydrogen tank, unlike an electric car, which can take several hours. It has no emissions other than water vapour.
Anything else?
In a bid to encourage other manufacturers to follow suit into fuel cell vehicle production Toyota has allowed royalty-free use of approximately 5,680 fuel cell related patents. They mainly centre on the fuel cell stacks, high-pressure hydrogen tanks and technology relating to the control and operation of the fuel cell system.