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2016 Mirai - new owner thread

Discussion in 'Fuel Cell Vehicles' started by OldNSlow, Feb 23, 2016.

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  1. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    Question, at the sites you filled up at, do they tell you how much the hydrogen cost, and how much it cost you to fill up? I know Toyota is paying for the fuel, but I'm curious if you're seeing how much it's costing them each time you filled up.
     
    #41 Ashlem, Mar 9, 2016
  2. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Toyota keeps saying that monster openings are 'necessary', but really? Was it necessary for Honda's Fuel Cell car to look like Schwarzenegger's Predator?

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It didn't seem to be necessary on Toyota's hylander version fuel cell ride . . . . and since it's not necessary on that, nor on Honda's Gen 1 nor its Gen II fuel cell cars - . Not trying to be adversarial - it's just that with all other FC cars you don't see a gargantuan opening in the front. Necessary? I don't buy it. Someone at Toyota has giant grill work / front openings on their agenda. Look at many of the newer offerings at Toyota/Lexus. No - it's not necessary on the other cars either.
    Still . . . kudos to you, OldNSlow - for going a head & giving Toyota's hydrogen car a chance. I'm curious though - do you either work for Toyota, or UCI, or some other hydrogen vested entity?
    .
     
    #42 hill, Mar 10, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2016
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I think they're just taking the opportunity to make a vehicle that stands out (For better or for worse). I've sat in the Highlander FCEV and you can definitely tell it's a prototype vehicle. It's a bit noisy and there's an interesting smell from the FC system from what I can recall. The BMW Hydrogen7 I rode in is better (but it also has a higher standard starting platform - a 7 Series). I think the Hydrogen7 is an H2 ICE and not a FC. The tank took up most of its 20 cu ft trunk. It can fit a large gym bag (Say the type for hockey) but it won't fit a box or anything that isn't long/narrow.
     
    #43 Tideland Prius, Mar 11, 2016
  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Yep, the BMW was an ICE, or more accurately, a bi-fuel gasoline and hydrogen ICE.
    Much of the tank was likely insulation since the car used liquid hydrogen, but it could still use more. A full tank of hydrogen would boil off in a little over a week with the car parked.
     
    #44 Trollbait, Mar 11, 2016
  5. OldNSlow

    OldNSlow Junior Member

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    Can't really say that they are necessary, but the car's looks are growing on me. so far all the impressions of others seeing it in person are positive. Come to think of it there are quite a few cars that I questioned the looks of initially, but grew to like: The Prius, Porsche 924/944, 928.

    No affiliation with Toyota - I work in commercial real estate management. I just like their reliability, my office just happens to be in the middle of the highest concentration of current fueling stations and I do have a long commute. I figured it was a perfect fit.



    Merged




    Yes, the price per kg ranges from $13.99 to $16.63 based on where you fill up. Expensive compared to petrol, but it's anticipated the cost/kg will drop a lot once volumes increase. New tech is expensive, but that is a part of the deal - I estimate that the 3 year fuel credit will cover about 60,000 miles based on my driving efficiency (reasonable). I believe I was told or read somewhere that some of the initial research stations were selling hydrogen for about a third of the above cost. I'm anticipating that down the road it will be much lower than even that.
     
    #45 OldNSlow, Mar 11, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 11, 2016
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  6. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    How often do you refuel H2? Twice a week?

    Do you still drive your PiP?
     
    #46 usbseawolf2000, Mar 11, 2016
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    So that's $15/egal @ 60 MPegal...hope they bring that price down by the time you hit 60000
     
    #47 wjtracy, Mar 11, 2016
  8. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    The price should come down gradually so that 60,000 miles could be stretched to 90,000 miles. However, he only got 3 years of free refuel and that isn't going to stretch.
     
    #48 usbseawolf2000, Mar 11, 2016
  9. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    With the $15k limit on hydrogen, it will cover 902kg to 1072.2kg at the prices quoted.
     
    #49 Trollbait, Mar 11, 2016
  10. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    90% of us had to Google "hockey gym bag .... 40% of us had to Google" "hockey"

    .
     
    #50 hill, Mar 11, 2016
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  11. OldNSlow

    OldNSlow Junior Member

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    I'm refueling about every 2 days ( I drive a lot :) ). I already have 2,600 miles on it . I do still drive my Prius - had a trip to Hendersen NV. Will start rotating my other cars in as the newness wears off - still fun to drive !!
     
    #51 OldNSlow, Mar 14, 2016
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  12. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    is there a 10,000 PSI hydrogen station in Henderson? Or ar least a 5k? Maybe a Shell station? or what
    .
     
    #52 hill, Mar 14, 2016
  13. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    nice so 1000 kg of h2, you should be able to see how well it runs for awhile. The initial research stations are not allowed to sell hydrogen by the kg, they have not put the equipment in to sell it legally. They can give toyota a monthly rate and codes. In 2013 bob carter of toyota estimated it would cost around $10/kg. If anything carb is finding hydrogen is more expensive than they thought. They need to put in greenfield stations with production to drop the cost and those are not planned this year or next.

    here are the 12 retail stations open. Along with information on the ones in progress. THere are 9 non-retail locations, including 6 toyota dealerships that can not hit full tanks and 3 older stations that are not retail but can be accessed with codes.
    Stations Map | California Fuel Cell Partnership

    Full-Retail Hydrogen Stations Now Coming Online In California
    The goal was 36 retail by the end of 2015 (august 2013 carb promise), then 15 (july 2015 carb promise), it ended up as 6. Now there are 6 more of the 50 still promised by the end of this year. The chances of the other 38 actually coming on line and working this year as promised are slim to none, but there should be more than the current 12.

    A typical gas station can handle 300 cars a day. If these 12 had that throughput that would be 3600 fcv a day, or plenty to satisfy toyota's goal of 3000 fcv. Why the problem? Most of these stations can handle less than 200kg or less than 50 fcv per day, so you need many more stations.
     
    #53 austingreen, Mar 14, 2016
  14. OldNSlow

    OldNSlow Junior Member

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    We're now up to 15 Toyota approved hydrogen filling stations in California with 3 new ones in West LA & Lake Forest and Santa Barbara (all So Cal).

    I did a drive up to Fresno & back last weekend and got 74 MPGe and 76 MPGe for those days - drove posted fwy speeds or cruised behind some trucks for a while at slightly slower speeds.

    Purchased (leased) 5 weeks ago tomorrow - stats so far (3,755 miles):

    Tank Avg Miles/kg 65.52
    low: 59.32m/k for 241 miles
    high: 77.41m/k for 307 miles

    Daily Avg MPGe 66.59
    Low day 49.8 mpge/93.7 miles
    High day 76.0 mpge/338.1 miles

    Tank Avg $/mile: $0.24
    Low: $0.18
    high: $0.28

    Also - received my car pool stickers today, took another guy 2-1/2 months, mine 5 weeks)
     
    #54 OldNSlow, Mar 24, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2016
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  15. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Do you know if any of those are renewable yet?
     
    #55 Trollbait, Mar 24, 2016
  16. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    OldNSlow, could you post how long it took you to fill up? I'm curious to see what kind of refill times you're seeing, especially if another car or two filled up just prior to you arriving there. I'm sure others would like to know as well.
     
    #56 Ashlem, Mar 24, 2016
  17. OldNSlow

    OldNSlow Junior Member

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    Longest was 4-1/2 minutes so far - I didn't think to time that one, was talking, but it didn't feel noticeably longer
     
    #57 OldNSlow, Mar 24, 2016
  18. OldNSlow

    OldNSlow Junior Member

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    First 5K mile service done yesterday; decided to be mature and not ask the service rep for an oil change, or for them to figure out the squeak in the muffler ;-)
     
    #58 OldNSlow, Apr 6, 2016
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  19. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Question; Some cars powered by electricity have indicators showing battery state of charge, and/or maybe even lost capacity as the traction pack ages over the 10's or 100's of thousands of miles. Any thing like that on the Mirai?
    .
     
    #59 hill, Apr 6, 2016
  20. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    wouldn't expect it to be any different from the Prius indicators?
     
    #60 lensovet, Apr 7, 2016
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