Toyota Motor Corp. announced its new 2015 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle will be called the Mirai — which means the future in Japanese.
The Toyota Mirai fuel-cell sedan is the production version of the FCV Concept, which the carmaker unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show last year.
Company president Akio Toyoda revealed the name of the vehicle, which will be sold in Japan later this year and arrive in the U.S. in the middle of 2015, via video message at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Though U.S. pricing has not been announced yet, some reports say the target is $50,000.
The Toyota Mirai will have a range of 300 miles and be capable of a five-minute refueling, like most of its competitors. Like all hydrogen fuel-cell cars, it will be outfitted with an electric motor, driven by a hydrogen fuel stack, with only water vapor as its tailpipe emission.
The Toyota Mirai will be featured at the L.A. Auto Show, which opens to the public Friday following several press days.
To support Mirai’s introduction to the Northeastern states in 2016, Toyota is collaborating with Air Liquide to develop and supply a phased network of 12 state-of-the-art hydrogen stations targeted for New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The states and locations have been strategically selected in the greater New York and Boston areas to provide the backbone of a hydrogen highway for the Northeast corridor. Specific details of the collaboration will be revealed in the coming months.
This new announcement builds on Toyota’s previous support for hydrogen infrastructure development in California. In May 2014, Toyota announced a $7.3 million loan to FirstElement Fuels to support the operations and maintenance of 19 hydrogen fueling stations across the state. The commitment augments funding provided by the California Energy Commission, and makes Toyota the only OEM to provide working capital for infrastructure development.
