murai fuel cell gets a video and plans for other states.

I won't be holding my breath to see one on a NJ highway.

 

Blind spot monitoring at 53 seconds and backup sensors at 2:33 (not to mention CHAdeMO at 1:15). Give me those on my PiP instead. KTHXBAI

 

discouraging for ev'ers, i would love to be a fly on the toyota boardroom wall. am i really going to have to switch brands for my next car?

 

I love my two Toyotas (PriusC and PiP), but these will likely be my last Toyotas (already thinking about selling my C for a Volt). Once these two cars are paid off, it's Tesla for me.

 

can't blame you, i think i'll be in the next gen leaf or equivalent.

 

I'm hoping they will reveal the Mirai's EPA window sticker numbers. The Honda Clarity is 58 mpg equivslent (essentially 58 miles per kg of hydrogen) in the city, 60 highway.

A recent US national labs study found that a vehicle with a combined rating of about 68 miles per kg would effectively emit 250g per mile well-to-wheel of carbon dioxide using hydrogen from natural gas (which is where 95% of it comes from in real life). A Prius is rated to emit about 220g per mile burning actual gasoline at 50 mpg.

So, the Mirai will have to get an estimate of around 75 miles to match the exist 2015 Prius much less next year's 4th gen Prius which should do a little bit better.

I'll also be looking for details about the Mirai's climate control system. Will it utilize waste heat from the fuel cell stack?

I'm not sure if any of the Toyota/GM/Honda/Hyundai prototype cars have done this. It's challenging to do effectively since fuel cells are ~60% efficient and generate lower temperatures (80C or 175F).

I'm just starting to read a 2013 Toyota patent for doing this but I don't know how cost effective such a unit would be in a production car. Much of the energy needed for heating a vehicle in the winter is used in the first 5-10 minutes after the cold vehicle is started to bring the cabin up from ~20F to 70F.

There is probably going to be very little inherent initial waste heat from a fuel cell stack driving on icy/snowy city streets or congested highways during that initial time. Fuel cell waste heat is probably most useful for maintaining cabin heat at highway speeds while driving longer distances.

 

Nice video, but I can't buy one in Wisconsin. On top of that, even if I somehow managed to get one, I'd have no way to fill it up. And I'd rather not have to foot the bill via taxes/fees to build the hydrogen infrastructure needed.

An electric vehicle, on the other hand, I can easily charge from a power plug in my garage. And if I have a PHEV, then I can also use gas, which is readily available almost everywhere in the US should I decide to road trip or travel long distances. As much as I try to think long-term, a fuel cell vehicle is expensive and will be even more limited than EV's. And I need a practical car today, not twenty years from now.

 

It already has a battery, why in heavens name didn't they make it a plug-in FCEV I'll never know. That would make it an easier sell and could future proof their customers who wouldn't be required to go get hydrogen if its not going to be somewhere in the neighborhood. And it would save a little hydrogen along the way as well as limit the pressure to keep building stations they don't even want to build.

 

i don't even understand why it has a battery.

 

thanks! now it makes even less sense to me over a pure ev.

 

Some pricing info:

2016 Toyota Mirai Priced At $57,500, With $499 Monthly Lease

 

Tin hat speculation: Was one of the reasons why Toyota held back the roll out of nationwide PIP sales was to save the limited number of tax credits for the FCV which will need them more?

 

Given the NimH battery, it is not likely to plug-in except for emergency power.

The only practical connection, which is plugging in at home, for H2 sustain, is lost.

Mirai means future, it does not mean present, it'll never change.

http://newsroom.toyota.eu/pressrelease/4124//toyota-ushers-future-launch-mirai-fuel-cell-sedan

 

This is a step in the right direction imo, hydrogen power is clean and very safe. Will be great when it goes mainstream, looking forward to it

Excerpt:
"The world's largest car maker will begin selling fuel cell cars in Japan on December 15 and in the US and Europe in mid-2015. The sporty-looking, four-door Toyota Mirai will sell for 6.7 million yen (£36,700) before tax. Toyota hopes to sell 400 in Japan and 300 in the rest of the world in the first year."

Source:
Toyota to launch hydrogen power car - Yahoo News UK