Toyota Mirai goes further than any other electric car

The hydrogen fuel cell-powered Toyota Mirai is the only zero emissions car you can buy that can go more than 300 miles without refuelling.

Toyota are already increasing production of the hydrogen fuel cell-powered Mirai as demand exceeds supply – even before customer cars arrive outside Japan – as buyers look for a car that can deliver zero emissions (at the point of use) without nagging range anxiety.

But having a successful car on your hands – even though sales will be small in numbers – is about continuing to ram your message home to potential buyers – just as Toyota has done for a decade with the hybrid Prius – to make sure potential buyers can’t ignore the USPs.

That’s why Toyota has declared that the Mirai can go further than any other zero emissions car on the market, proclaiming the Mirai to be the only such car that can go more than 300 miles on a single fill thanks to its equivalent of 67mpg giving it a range of 312 miles.

Of course, all Toyota would need to do to make it go further still is fit a bigger fuel tank – a lot more affordable than adding more batteries to a BEV, and a lot cheaper – but it does demonstrate that driving a hydrogen fuel cell car gives you a similar experience to driving an ICE car; you only need to stop and refuel and you’re on your way again.

It’s very sensible USP to demonstrate for Toyota, but it will be a while before there’s a proper refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen-powered cars, and perhaps longer still until the hydrogen you buy is delivered without big CO2 costs involved in its production.

But the same can be said for BEV cars.