In a perfect world, refueling a hydrogen car should take about the same amount of time as refueling a gasoline or diesel vehicle. Since the fuel is under pressure (up to 10,000 psi), you must lock the nozzle in place, but after you do that, you should be good to go. The pressure at the station, however, may really drop off momentarily if there are multiple automobiles waiting in line for hydrogen, slowing down everyone. If multiple cars use it in a sequence, the nozzle may also freeze, adhering to the cars and making removal more difficult until it thaws out.
Currently, it can be expensive to fill up a car with hydrogen, in part due to the lack of infrastructure. For instance, refueling the Mirai would run you roughly $90 per throw if you had to pay for it (by the kilogram). However, if all goes according to plan, you can drive around releasing only water, which is a pleasant perk.
Watch Tommy’s video below for additional information on the Mirai and what it’s like to live with it:
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What is the cost of a hydrogen fill-up for a Mirai?
Some automobiles are pricey to buy, while others are pricey to own. The average price of hydrogen fuel is $16 per kilogram, thus filling up a Toyota Mirai might be rather expensive. Since the Mirai typically holds 5 pounds, your cost would be about $80.
It should be mentioned, nevertheless, that hydrogen fuel is significantly more effective than gasoline. On the interstate, a Mirai can do 71 miles per kilo, and 76 in the city.
Is hydrogen fuel less expensive than regular fuel?
Is fuel made of hydrogen less expensive than fuel made of gasoline? We look into how hydrogen is produced in the UK and why it is less expensive to produce than gasoline.
Yes, hydrogen fuel is less expensive to create than gasoline, to give the quick response. In contrast to the dangerous CO2 created by conventional internal combustion engines, the only byproduct of hydrogen fuel is clean water. Hydrogen is not only more energy-efficient than gasoline, but it is also better for the environment. Then again, why don’t we all drive vehicles fueled by hydrogen?
Although using hydrogen cells to power our commutes has numerous benefits, there are also occasions when the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Despite being the most prevalent chemical element in the universe, hydrogen is not found in nature. Hydrogen, unlike fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, must be derived chemically from other sources.
How much does it cost to fill a hydrogen vehicle’s tank?
Driving a hydrogen-powered vehicle is fantasticas long as you live close to a refueling facility. They are quiet and stylish. They’re environmentally friendly (the emissions are essentially just water), and even more so than with a Tesla, you feel like a member of an exclusive group.
A hydrogen vehicle would only pose a risk if, for example, your entire state was placed on strict lockdown, the company that lent you the vehicle closed its offices for the week, making it impossible for you to return it or get your old vehicle back, and the only refueling station left in the entire state was moved behind a locked security gate. If that happens, you might be driven to continually limit how much time you spend driving while also checking the fuel level out of a paralyzing worry that you will become stranded in the middle of nowhere with no way on earth to get the car rolling once more.
I recently had the chance to travel around in one of the country’s 20 Toyota Mirai hydrogen-powered vehicles, and of course I leaped at the chance. Because my current vehicle is 27 years old and has lichen growing on the roof, as well as because I have a strong interest in environmentally friendly transportation.
In hindsight, it’s possible that having the worst automobile in Australia affected how I felt about the Mirai. Not because of the cutting-edge environmental innovation, but rather because this automobile featured Bluetooth audio, I was pleased as I slid into my new vehicle. Game-changing.
Speaking of that breakthrough, the car is powered by oxygen and hydrogen gas that are mixed in a fuel cell stack to create electricity, which powers the motor. The only waste product produced during this process is a tiny trickle of water that is emptied by pressing a button on the dashboard. There are no carbon emissions at all. Technically speaking, you could drink this, but Toyota advises against it.
Driving this thing feels smooth, I won’t lie. Due to the car’s ultra-quiet motor and sophisticated radar cruise control, which will even slow down and speed up for you in traffic, you hardly even notice when the engine is running. The car is expensive-looking and -feeling (mainly because it is), and although it takes longer to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (7.4 seconds) than the Tesla Model 3 (3.3 seconds), it still outperforms my piece of junk (7.4 minutes on a good day).
You can’t dispute the fact that this is a lovely, high-tech car, but the voice commands function was spotty and I never felt completely confident in the built-in navigation maps.
Although I truly enjoyed driving the Mirai, I find it difficult to imagine that Australia will ever adopt this.
These first 20 cars, which are not currently available for purchase in the antarctic, are being made available on long-term, 36-month leases for $1,750 to “pioneering companies and organizations, the CSIRO being the first, will use it to test the new hydrogen refueling station it intends to construct.
The main problem is that this new station will only be Australia’s fourth overall. Because hydrogen infrastructure is still being developed, there is one enormous drawback that is currently insurmountable to owning a hydrogen vehicle. There is absolutely nowhere to fill it up.
At the moment, the Toyota plant in Altona West in Victoria is the only place to obtain your fix of highly concentrated pure hydrogen gas, and it is not open to the general public. In fact, unless you are a certified Toyota employee, you aren’t even supposed to remove the gasoline pump from the dock, as I discovered from a fairly displeased-looking site manager.
Construction of a commercial hydrogen refueling station can cost millions of dollars, and in the US, government funding has been crucial to getting them up and running. They operate similarly to a gas station; you insert the pump, fill the tank, pay, and then go. Although it charges an EV more quickly, it is significantly more expensive. At the moment, a kilogram of hydrogen costs roughly US$16 (A$21) in the US. As a result, filling the 5 kilogram tank on a Mirai may cost about A$105. This will let you to go 500 kilometers, which is a greater range than most EVs but still results in a price per kilometer that is significantly higher than a conventional fuel vehicle. (However, it should be noted that prices might decrease given the expanding global demand for hydrogen.)
When created exclusively from renewable energy, hydrogen is an emissions-free alternative to gasoline that is being touted as being better for the environment than electric vehicles (EVs).
However, there are two methods for making hydrogen. In the first, fossil fuels and water are combined, which results in large CO2 emissions. The second process splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using a lot of electricity. We are in good shape if this power is generated by wind or solar energy, but if it is drawn from the conventional grid, you will experience the same issues as when you charge your EV at home. Even if they are less obvious, fossil fuels are still used.
At that moment, hydrogen vehicles are essentially reduced to a more expensive, less powerful, and energy-efficient variant of an electric vehicle that still runs on the standard coal- or gas-dominated power sources.
The Toyota hydrogen station is currently powered by “There is still a small but real chance that my joyrides around Melbourne in the Mirai in the Mirai contributed to worsening climate change. My joyrides use an 87kW solar array, a 100kW battery storage, and mains grid depending on what’s available at the time.
Another issue is that establishing a third, more expensive nationwide fuel infrastructure system would be difficult to conceive given how tough it has already been to expand Australia’s EV charging hub network. However, we do know that our government has a slight bias in favor of a gas-driven economy, so perhaps green hydrogen hubs are more their style?
Although Toyota and other hydrogen-related businesses intend to develop the infrastructure over the following years, for my little time behind the wheel I wasn’t too concerned. I intended to pick up the Mirai with my sputtering Subaru Impreza, fill up my tank of highly compressed pure hydrogen gas, and then drive around unfettered for about a week.
Last week, I was supposed to return it on Friday, but as you are likely aware, on Thursday, Victoria learnt that it was going into a hard lockdown. I had two choices because the Toyota plant was hunkering down to weather the storm. I had to decide whether to let my wonderful dinosaur of a car get locked away for the week and hope that the Mirai had enough H2 to see me through the outbreak or figure out a method to get this car back by 5pm, in peak hour, lockdown panic traffic, with story deadlines out the wazoo.
I’ve run out of gas several times before, and the anxiety and humiliation of having to wait 15 minutes for your dad to arrive and save you while carrying a billycan full of gas on the back seat nearly killed me. I can only think that it would take that longat least 5,000because I would have to phone Toyota and beg them to send a tow truck to haul this $87,000 car back to Altona North from who-knows-where, and then the firm would have to compel someone to leave lockdown just to fill it up. I would just go away.”
So, during the first week of lockdown, I limited the number of times I went to the grocery store, rode my bike to the pharmacy, and checked the display panel to see how many kilometers remained till refueling about every 10 seconds.
In the end, I was able to return the car on Friday with 186 kilometers remaining, so it wasn’t really a tight call, but even so, I think some of that tension will follow me throughout the rest of my life.
Although I’ll miss the guilt-free, carefree atmosphere, it felt so good to get back into my tiny lemon, even with its severely dented doors. When switching from one automobile to the other, it was abrupt. At first, I couldn’t wait to fill up with sweet, wonderful, easily accessible gasoline on my way home.
I was shocked to realize how poorly my cherished fossil had been handled. I learned that you need to use the brakes firmly with your entire foot in order to slow down, and maybe my two weeks spent living with a hydrogen fuel cell had made me more sensitive to pollutants because I swear I could smell a faint gasoline odor coming from within the cabin.
Sincerely, the Mirai has made me consider whether I need to get a new vehicle that is more ecologically friendly.
Why is the Mirai priced so low?
The Toyota Mirai is one of only two hydrogen-powered automobiles that are currently being produced, making it relatively special. Although hydrogen technology is by no means new, it has only ever been utilized in concept cars, which makes Mirai a unique automobile.
We must examine every facet of operating and maintaining a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in order to comprehend why the Mirai is so inexpensive (FCV). Even if you have no plans to purchase a Mirai, I urge you to read this article because the concept behind it is both fascinating and ground-breaking.
The simple answer is that the Mirai is affordable due to the significant incentives provided when purchasing a new model, the most popular three-year lease with free fuel, a dearth of charging stations, and some consumer skepticism over the technology.
Is buying a Mirai worthwhile?
The 2022 Toyota Mirai has the renowned Toyota dependability, but the price is difficult to justify.
The second generation of the ToyotaMirai, which debuted in 2020, includes the 2022 model. The 2022 Toyota Mirai has a lot going for it, including pliant suspension that makes it one of the most comfortable cars to drive and remarkable driving characteristics.
The cabin is fully equipped with all the necessary amenities and technology, and the entertainment system is also quite good. The Mirai is a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicle that delivers an exceptional driving range and a higher level of refinement than its competitors. Since the introduction of the second generation, which has a more masculine profile and sportier rear end, the exterior design has been masterfully executed. Here are ten things to consider before purchasing a 2022 Toyota Mirai.
Does hydrogen fuel have a lower cost than electric?
Despite being the most prevalent element in the cosmos, hydrogen is not present in its purest form on the Blue Planet. This means that in order to utilize it as fuel for our cars, we must first make it from other substances, such as water, natural gas, other fossil fuels, or biomass. Energy must be needed for this, and there are also financial and environmental implications.
On the one hand, we can cleanly produce hydrogen by reversing the electrolysis of water. The issue is that this energy-intensive method of separating H20 molecules from hydrogen to obtain hydrogen costs a lot of money. The net energy cycle can become very low in carbon, and the process becomes more ecologically benign, if this energy is able to originate from renewable energy sources like the sun or the wind. Another issue is the process’s efficiency, which is just 75% efficient and allows for 25% of electricity losses.
This is why electrolysis is more expensive than natural gas reforming, which is how most hydrogen fuel is produced today. The drawback is that the process produces toxic byproducts that contribute to global warming, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Methane leaks during the extraction of natural gas are also not uncommon, despite the fact that they are becoming less common. Furthermore, these molecules provide around 25% of the world’s GHG emissions, making them 86 times worse than CO2 in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to having a negative influence on ecosystems and biodiversity, the process of extracting natural gasfrackingcan also taint water and produce small earthquakes.