What are the rosy (and painful) points to living with a Toyota Mirai?
In our gasoline and diesel-conditioned world, a slim segment of folks out there in the car-buying world are just getting used to the thought of owning a battery electric vehicle. Be it one of Tesla’s offerings or something from a “legacy” manufacturer, lower prices, tax incentives and a widening network of charging stations on top of greater competition is making that leap easier than it’s ever been. Then you have cars like the Toyota Mirai, which are an oddity even among converts to EV transport.
Why? Just like the first-generation Mirai, this car is still powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. It’s still an electric car, but derives its power from compressed hydrogen stored in three rear-mounted tanks instead of relying on a large battery. The upshot of that is you never need to plug it in, and living with the car is akin to the life we already know — occasionally filling up with fuel. But are there more advantages, or some disadvantages, to having a Toyota Mirai over a conventional car or even a standard EV? In this video, Tommy goes through the ups and downs we’ve experienced with the 2021 model Mirai over the course of the past week.
The big down side
Large caveat: Yes, regardless of the plus points, one major downside is the lack of infrastructure. Hydrogen filling stations are “abundant” in one state and one state only: California. Beyond that (and a couple in Hawaii), you’ll be hard-pressed to find a place to fill up a Mirai until automakers and third parties throw more support behind H2 stations. As such, Toyota only sells its hydrogen-fueled model where there’s fuel available, and forget about taking it on a long road trip until there are more places to fill up (if that happens in the near future).
Still, there are plenty of points on which to commend the 2021 Toyota Mirai, as well as a few detractors beyond the filling up issue. Check out the video below for more, and stay tuned for other tests and reviews coming soon.
