Toyota Mirai travels 1360km on a single run

The Toyota Mirai has just broken its own Guinness world record for the longest distance travelled by a fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) without refilling.

Gazumping the 1003km record set by its European counterparts in June this year, Toyota Motor North America’s team has recorded an 845-mile run – equivalent to 1360km.

The Toyota Mirai completed a “round-trip tour” of Southern California in August to break the record, which has only now been verified and announced.

It’s also well past the record claimed by Hyundai in June, when a team took the new 2021 Hyundai NEXO from Melbourne to Broken Hill and beyond, covering 887.5km.

As with the European run, the American record saw the Mirai consume a total of 5.65kg of hydrogen. The Toyota runs three separate gas tanks, all connected to the one filler.

Along the way, Toyota says the Mirai passed 12 hydrogen refuelling stations and that the drive took place “mainly during rush hour traffic” in temperatures between 18-28 degrees Celsius.

Whereas the Mirai emitted no CO2 on the drive, the Japanese car-maker claims that a standard combustion-engined vehicle would have emitted 300kg over the same distance.

Guinness World Records closely monitored the feat to ensure its strict rules and procedures were followed, with adjudicator Michael Empric sealing the Mirai’s tank filler at the beginning and validating it at the end of the trip. 

With professional hyper-miler Wayne Gerdes behind the wheel, alongside co-pilot Bob Winger, the two-day trek began on August 23 at the Toyota Technical Centre (TTC) in Gardena, California, with the pair travelling through Santa Monica and San Diego before returning to the finish line at TTC.

In preparation, Toyota says it ensured proper wheel alignment and tyre pressures etc, and removed extra cargo to reduce weight.

Key driving techniques used throughout the journey included avoiding quick acceleration or heavy braking, avoiding driving at higher speeds and minimal use of mechanical and electrical accessories such as air-conditioning.

Unlike in North America, Australia is yet to offer the Mirai for sale to the general public, due in part to a lack of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. 

Several examples of the Toyota Mirai are on the ground in Australia, but can only be loaned by business and government partners via a three-year lease program that costs more than $63,000 over three years, including a $1750 monthly fee and scheduled servicing.

It’s a similar deal with the hydrogen-powered Hyundai NEXO, with examples already doing work as government fleet vehicles Down Under.

However, the South Korean car-maker says the NEXO will also be made available to private customers on a subscription basis.