Toyota’s Mirai Fuel-Cell Cars Will Arrive In California In October

Although the initial availability will be very limited, Toyota’s Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell cars will arrive at eight California dealerships beginning in October of this year. The company explains that Californians can begin placing orders for the sedan this summer, which is being priced at $58,325, including the current shipping charge of $825 for 2015 Toyotas.

There are other automakers that build fuel-cell vehicles, such as Hyundai and Honda, but they offer lease-only deals that do not allow customers to buy the cars at the end of the lease. Therefore, Toyota’s offering will be the first mainstream fuel-cell car that will be made available for outright purchase.

The initial sales are being limited to dealerships that are in close enough proximity to California’s current network of hydrogen fuelling stations to make using a fuel-cell car a realistic prospect. However, Toyota representative Jana Hartline says that the company has a partnership with French company Air Liquide to build hydrogen stations in the Northeast beginning next year. The plan is to build fueling stations in other states to accommodate Mirai sales, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, all of which share some of California’s clean-air regulations.

The Toyota Mirai fuel-cell sedan production numbers will be only 700 for 2015, 2,000 for 2016, and 3,000 per year from 2017 until 2020, making it quite an exclusive vehicle. It is expected that less than 12,000 will be made during its entire manufacturing life span, in part due to the limitations of its hand-built, costly manufacturing process.

Toyota’s official press release indicates that the eight dealerships that will be selling the cars this year are as follows: San Francisco Toyota, Roseville Toyota, Stevens Creek Toyota and Toyota of Sunnyvale in Northern California; and Longo Toyota, Toyota Santa Monica, Toyota of Orange and Tustin Toyota in Southern California.

How do fuel-cell cars work?

Fuel-cell cars are electric cars, however, they are not plug-ins. Hydrogen from onboard tanks is mixed in the fuel cell with oxygen, and an electro-chemical reaction produces electricity to run the car’s motor, emitting only water vapor. There’s no air pollution, however, producing hydrogen takes large amounts of electricity, which is not always produced cleanly.

There are differing opinions about whether or not fuel-cell cars are truly a sustainable eco-friendly option for the future, and it will be interesting to see how the auto industry reacts to Toyota’s new vehicle as it rolls out to limited customers. The high price of the car and fuel are considered drawbacks, as well as the lack of nationwide fueling stations, although Toyota has plans to build more as described earlier.

Considering the very limited number of cars being offered this year, Toyota explains that the vehicles will be “placed with select, eligible customers.” Those who are interested can sign up for more information about the Mirai, and can also give their names to be notified when the order books open by visiting www.toyota.com/mirai.