Toyota Mirai to launch in April

Just a week after the Hyundai NEXO fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) was launched in Australia, Toyota has revealed that first examples of its second-generation 2021 Toyota Mirai will hit local roads during April.

As with the Hyundai NEXO, an initial allocation of just 20 hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai FCEVs will be leased to government and private fleets.

These “select businesses” will have access to a new hydrogen refuelling station at the Japanese car company’s former manufacturing site at Altona, west of Melbourne.

Officially opened today, the site is billed as Victoria’s first commercial-grade permanent hydrogen production, storage and refuelling centre, and is one of only a handful of sites around Australia – some of which are strictly private facilities.

A Toyota spokesperson told carsales that the Victorian centre will be open to all FCEVs that meet international refuelling standards – not just the Toyota Mirai.

However, specific details on the Australian-market Mirai – including whether the 20 vehicles have all been allocated, to whom, where and the duration and cost of the lease term, for example – are being left until the model is launched next month.

The company is also yet to follow Hyundai’s move in offering its FCEV to private customers from later this year, preferring to wait until the refuelling infrastructure improves further.

“Once the hydrogen infrastructure is established, we see the Mirai being sold privately to give our customers the option of a zero-emissions vehicle to suit their needs,” the spokesperson said.

Toyota and Hyundai are currently the only major auto brands offering FCEVs in Australia for trial and, eventually, private use.

They are also among only a few global car-makers to consider hydrogen as a viable option for future electrified vehicle transport.

At today’s official opening of the Altona site, Toyota Australia president and CEO Matthew Callachor described the government-supported Altona centre as a “showcase” for the benefits of hydrogen fuel-cell technology and was part of its “commitment to developing sustainable technologies for future mobility and energy needs”.

“Globally, Toyota is committed to achieving zero CO2 emissions from its vehicles and plants under the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 and the commissioning of our hydrogen refuelling facility here today is an important step towards achieving that goal,” he said.

“By demonstrating the viability of renewably-produced hydrogen as an automotive and energy fuel through this project, Toyota and its partners in government and business are pioneering a cleaner, more sustainable future that will encourage the further acceptance of this technology.

“We would like to thank our government partners for their assistance in bringing this project to fruition and those progressive forward-thinking business partners who will lease the 20 Mirai sedans we have brought into Australia to prove that hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles can, and will, play an important role in helping to move us towards a more sustainable and greener future.”

Similar to the Hyundai NEXO SUV, the second-generation Toyota Mirai sedan has a claimed driving range of 650km with three fuel tanks on-board that have a combined capacity to store 5.6kg of hydrogen.

Toyota says the refuelling process, which is not dissimilar to filling up a conventional car, takes between three and five minutes.

The five-seat, rear-drive Toyota Mirai is fitted with a 134kW/300Nm electric motor. The fuel-cell stack is made up of 330 cells and produces 128kW.

Toyota claims the Mirai can accelerate to 100km/h in 9.2 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 175km/h.

Water vapour is the only emission produced from the tailpipe.

The Altona site has the capacity to produce up to 80kg of hydrogen per day from a 200kW electrolyser that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen components.

Power for the electrolyser is drawn from an 87kW solar array, a 100kW battery storage and the mains grid.

Toyota Australia imported three examples of the first-generation Mirai to Australia in 2019 and ran a small-scale trial with local councils and utility companies using a mobile hydrogen refueller.