Hydrogen Cars - Worse than Manufacturers Let On

Toyota’s stunning new Mirai - haters gonna hate - must be the color of money influencing their negatively.

 

No it won't. It's a $60k sedan in a SUV market. People looking for luxury in a car can already get it in ICE, hybrid, PHEV, and BEV form without even having to go to Tesla. And those will offer better performance.

Without huge subsidies, the current Mirai doesn't sell. While a nicer and better car than the current model, the new Mirai isn't offering anything on its own to get someone like a GS owner to switch. Zero emissions? There are BEV options, and PHEVs that could be zero emission most of the time. Want fast refueling without compromising on the zero emissions? Well, they have except the performance downgrade with the FCEV.

So the incentives pile on. The current one is getting $37,000 from Toyota/Japan and California. There is also a $8000 federal tax credit, but that will be gone in 2021. With all those, a new Mirai could have a net price lower than a new Chevy Sonic. There they get 3 years of free fuel on top of that. From hydrogen stations paid for by the California government.

Requiring such subsidies, a possible 30 thousand cars a year will not spur on any revolutions.

 

Well I guess you could go for Tesla and endure the pain:

U.S. upgrades safety probe into nearly 159,000 Tesla vehicles