A new era of zero-emission mobility fueled by hydrogen has arrived with the Mirai.
The Japanese word for Mirai is “future,” yet in order for our innovative Toyota Fuel Cell System technology to be a success, it must be appealing to and available to people now. Despite having a cutting-edge drivetrain and utilizing a novel fuel, the Mirai is a typical mid-size, four-door sedan that is just as useful, secure, and simple to operate as a conventionally powered family car.
On a full tank of hydrogen, it will travel as far as a comparable-sized gasoline vehicle, and filling up from empty takes between three and five minutes. The benefits include a quiet, comfortable ride, high performance, and only water vapor emissions from the exhaust.
A interaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy in the Toyota Fuel Cell System seen in the Mirai.
In the same way that you purchase gasoline or diesel at a filling station, you refuel with hydrogen fuel. The fuel is kept in high-pressure tanks and pumped into a fuel cell stack, where the air’s hydrogen and oxygen interact to produce electricity.
Similar to a gasoline-electric hybrid, the voltage of the electricity is increased to power the electric motor. Every time the car brakes or slows down, more energy is stored in a battery, which results in even improved fuel efficiency.
We are the first company in the world to provide a system with a power density of 3.1 kW per liter thanks to our decades of research and development in hybrid electric technology.
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Where can a Mirai be fueled?
Only Solution. A fueling station for the Mirai must adhere to the most recent Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) hydrogen fueling interface protocol standards or regulations that may replace such SAE requirements. The Mirai is a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle.
What is the price to fill up a Mirai?
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:
Is hydrogen fuel less expensive than regular fuel?
Although hydrogen fuel is four times more expensive than gasoline and about $16 per gallon, it is far more efficient than gasoline. The cost of a fillup is high even though hydrogen cars, which have electric engines, have cruising ranges that are more than 350 miles longer than any battery-electric and some gas-powered vehicles.
The financial blow has been considerably mitigated by incentives. The state offers a $4,500 clean-car refund, and manufacturers supply refueling cards with three years’ worth of credit put on them. The first year of leasing a hydrogen vehicle, which is what most drivers do instead of buying, is mostly covered by that refund. New hydrogen vehicles cost around $60,000 and don’t come in as many model variants as battery-powered electric vehicles.
Aaron Slavin and his wife, who reside in the Altadena, California, neighborhood of Los Angeles, created a spreadsheet to analyze the benefits and drawbacks of driving a hydrogen-fueled vehicle. They came to the conclusion that keeping a gas-electric hybrid “didn’t pencil out.”
Aaron Slavin refueled his 2017 Toyota Mirai at a one-bay hydrogen pump concealed at a typical gas station in South Pasadena and declared, “I’m a big fan of this car; I preach about them.
Slavin, a producer of performing arts, claimed that because of his employment, lack of frequent commuting, and backup hybrid SUV, he is an ideal fit for the vehicle.
Last year, a fuel manufacturing facility explosion restricted supply for months, leaving some hydrogen stations with empty tanks, leaving some drivers stranded or demanding lengthy treks to alternate stations, making the second car essential. Slavin turned to a smartphone app that offered a real-time inventory of fuel at each station in response to the issue, which some drivers dubbed the “hydropocalypse.”
Although the gasoline issue has been fixed, it prompted a concern. Our lease expires in April, so I really need to consider our options, Slavin added. ” The automobile is nice, however the fuel situation worries me.
Hydrogen energy production has long been an alluring objective. After all, hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, it is lightweight and energy-dense, and when used in transportation, it doesn’t release greenhouse gases but rather little pools of water instead.
But this clean-burning fuel has a carbon history. About 95% of hydrogen fuel is created via an energy-intensive method that relies on methane, the deadliest of the planet-warming gases, even though once it is formed it drives zero-emission electric motors. Because of this, it is challenging for certain environmental organizations to promote hydrogen vehicles.
Director of the Sierra Club in California Kathryn Phillips said, “We need to remove methane out of the system, not create a dependency on creating more. ” The current utilization of state subsidies for hydrogen fuel cells is not the ideal one when seen from an environmental perspective.
Two responses are given by supporters: Why not trap and use the methane that is currently being released unregulated into the environment from landfills and oil and gas plants while the state makes the transition to a zero-carbon economy? Why not switch to a technique that doesn’t use methane and uses the state’s excess solar energy instead, making the manufacturing clean and environmentally friendly?
Hydrogen vehicles can’t compete in a key area: price, while having benefits over battery electrics or gasoline automobiles in terms of quicker filling, less weight, and greater range. The cost of a typical municipal bus could be $450,000. Similar standards for a hydrogen bus cost more like $1 million.
Lewis Fulton, a specialist in transportation at UC Davis, claims that hydrogen “presents numerous separate chicken-and-egg challenges simultaneously.
He asserted that there won’t be more hydrogen fuelling stations until there are more vehicles built and bought. Furthermore, unless there are sufficient gas stations, customers might be concerned about getting stranded and may not feel safe operating the vehicles.
The only solution, according to Fulton, is a really strong policy push. “In the state, there is already one going on, but I’m not sure if it’s big enough.
As part of its ongoing conflict with the Trump administration, which last year took away the state’s jurisdiction to establish its own tailpipe pollution rules, California’s efforts to promote the market for hydrogen cars could be hindered. Car manufacturers who supported looser emissions regulations with the federal government will pay a price by having their vehicles removed from the state’s fleet.
Toyota, which sided with Washington, would be excluded at a time when the business is stepping up its hydrogen program and is anticipated to dramatically increase customer awareness of hydrogen vehicles due to its position as a major multinational automaker.
Supporters played minimized the problem. Eckerle acknowledged that there was an issue. He continued, however, that there has been no sign from automakers that they plan to back out of their commitment to producing hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Why is fuel made of hydrogen so expensive?
The majority of hydrogen utilized in the United States is generated on-site or nearby, often at sizable industrial facilities. It is still necessary to build the infrastructure for supplying hydrogen to the vast national network of fuelling stations needed for the widespread deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles. Building out these distribution networks is the primary objective of the initial rollout for vehicles and stations, which is predominantly done in southern and northern California.
Currently, there are three ways to deliver hydrogen:
Pipeline: This method is the least expensive for delivering large amounts of hydrogen, but it has a limited capacity due to the fact that there are only 1,600 miles of hydrogen transport pipes in the United States at the moment. These pipelines are situated close to significant chemical and petroleum refineries in Illinois, California, and the Gulf Coast.
High-Pressure Tube Trailers: High-Pressure Tube Trailers are expensive and are often used for transporting compressed hydrogen gas over lengths of 200 miles or fewer by truck, railway, ship, or barge.
Cryogenic liquefaction is a technique that cools hydrogen to a temperature where it turns into a liquid, producing liquefied hydrogen tankers. Despite the cost of the liquefaction process, hydrogen may be delivered by truck, railcar, ship, or barge over larger distances more effectively than using high-pressure tube trailers. If the rate of consumption of the liquefied hydrogen is insufficient, it will boil out (or evaporate) from its containment vessels. The distribution and consumption rates of hydrogen must be precisely coordinated as a result.
There are numerous difficulties in developing an infrastructure for hydrogen transport and distribution to thousands of individual fuelling stations in the future. Hydrogen is more expensive to transport, store, and deliver to the place of use than all other fuels because it has a lower energy density per unit volume than all other fuels. The initial capital expenses of constructing a new hydrogen pipeline network are considerable, and the properties of hydrogen create special difficulties in the design of compressors and pipeline materials. However, as hydrogen can be created from a wide range of resources, regional or even local hydrogen production can make the best use of available resources while reducing distribution issues.
Between centralized and dispersed manufacturing, there are trade-offs to take into account. Centralized generation of hydrogen in sizable plants lowers production costs but raises delivery expenses. For instance, producing hydrogen at filling stations reduces distribution costs but raises production costs due to the expense of setting up on-site production facilities.
Research and development initiatives by the government and business are removing the obstacles to effective hydrogen delivery. The Office of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies has more information about hydrogen delivery.
Can a hydrogen car be fueled at home?
The SimpleFuelTM team is adamant about using clean, renewable energy sources to achieve energy independence, lower pollution, boost energy efficiency, improve the environment, and strengthen the economy. By giving worldwide consumers who choose zero emission fuel cell electric vehicles a comfortable alternative fuelling choice, SimpleFuelTM will promote the development of a hydrogen infrastructure around the world.
Customers of warehouses, community centers, municipalities, small enterprises, and other places may find it easier to access FCEVs with SimpleFuelTM, a compact and cost-effective fuelling solution. Additionally, the SimpleFuelTM appliance tops off a tank in a matter of minutes and generates hydrogen on-site, boosting convenience and enabling indoor installations without the need for hydrogen transportation.
Years of knowledge in system integration, compression, and electrolysis are brought to the table by the SimpleFuelTM team. With approximately 520 compressors deployed worldwide and counting, PDC is the leading supplier of hydrogen fuelling compressors for the automobile, bus, heavy-duty vehicle, and utility vehicle markets.
How much does hydrogen fuel cost?
If you’re wondering who would actually operate a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, I’m pleased to inform you that my most recent car, the Toyota Mirai, was one. Many people were curious about my experience driving this automobile, so I’ve addressed some of the most frequent inquiries I’ve gotten about it:
First of all, you should be aware that hydrogen fuel is measured in kilograms rather than gallons. A Mirai receives roughly 66 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) of hydrogen gas on a full tank, which weighs about five kilos.
The cost of the fuel isn’t low because the business is still in its early stages and is still learning how to store and transport hydrogen gas effectively. The price of one kilogram of hydrogen gas is roughly $16. However, Toyota provides hydrogen gas cards with a $15,000 value to every Mirai owner. You won’t have to pay for roughly three years’ worth of hydrogen gas thanks to Toyota! Additionally, it is hoped that as more research and development is conducted, hydrogen gas will become more accessible to drivers.
The only states with operational hydrogen stations are California and Hawaii, thus for the time being, you won’t see these vehicles outside of these two states. I live in California, where there are already 45 hydrogen stations open for business, with more in various phases of construction.
4) How do the gas stations look?
To begin with, hydrogen stations are normally found at petrol stations, and virtually every one of them that I have visited has only one hydrogen pump. This could present a problem if you’re in a hurry because you could have to wait unless there is another available pump nearby if there is a line of people in front of you. It just takes five to seven minutes to really fuel the vehicle.
The fact that the pumps run out is another disadvantage of using hydrogen fuel. To find out if pumps are “online” in California, visit the state’s Fuel Cell Partnership website. Tanks for hydrogen can only hold a specific amount of fuel throughout the day, so if you arrive at a tank without first checking to see if it contains fuel, you can find an empty pump. Although the website does a fantastic job of informing you when the tank will be refueled, if you’re in a hurry, it may cause significant delays to your plans. Infrastructure for hydrogen fuel needs to keep up with consumer demand and the state’s timeframe for achieving carbon neutrality in order to be able to integrate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as a practical clean energy choice for motorists.
5) How does the car handle city driving versus long distance driving?
The car is incredibly efficient whether being driven around town or in the city. In line with electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles employ “regenerative braking,” an energy-conservation technique that leverages the friction produced by applying the brakes to refuel the vehicle’s battery. When I was driving locally, I only needed to fill up my tank once every two weeks, or roughly every 250 miles. On the other hand, these vehicles struggle while driving over extended distances with little braking. The motor behaves like a charged battery because it is electric. Consider your phone: if you use it continuously without a break, the battery will drain more quickly than if you use it intermittently. Without any means of replenishment (braking in this case), electricity depletes more quickly. For instance, if I were to go more than 30 miles per hour on the highway several times each week, I would need to refuel once every week (around every 150 miles). Driving efficiently, or doing so at a speed of no more than 65 miles per hour, is the only method to extend the life of your battery. Remembering the phone analogy, see it as if you were driving in “low power mode” to extend the battery’s life.
6) Additional details you should be aware of:
The most important thing individuals should be aware of is the need of conducting thorough research and being knowledgeable about the vehicle they will be purchasing. To make your automobile perform as effectively as possible for you, you must know how to drive it and how to fill it with gas. I ran out of power and had to be pulled to the closest hydrogen station because I didn’t do the required study and believed I could drive from Southern California to Northern California in the same manner as I would a gas-powered vehicle. Additionally, there have been times when I’ve had to wait longer than necessary to refuel at a hydrogen tank simply because someone couldn’t figure out how to fit the pump into the car. Sometimes people will attempt to fill up while the tank is still in the reset process since they are unaware that the pump needs around five minutes to reset after being used so frequently. As a result, they will leave thinking the tank is empty. Overall, there is still much to learn about hydrogen fuel cell cars, and when these cars are sold to drivers, the right education needs to be factored in along with research.