2016 Toyota Mirai Arrival: Why Mirai?

Here it is: Welcome to the first hydrogen car ever to grace the Motor Trend Garage. For the next several months, we’ll finally learn what it’s like not just to drive but also to live with a hydrogen vehicle. We’ve learned a few things already, including not to panic when the fueling nozzle freezes onto the car’s receptacle at the hydrogen pump and that the Mirai can outrun a Prius.

The Toyota Mirai is the first vehicle of its kind to be available for retail sale in the U.S. Right now, the fun-loving fuel cell is only sold in eight dealerships across California, and only 918 copies were delivered during the first 11 months of 2016. Its competitors can only be leased; even the upcoming 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell will only be available by lease initially.

How does the Mirai work? In a fuel cell stack, catalytic materials help hydrogen gas combine with oxygen in the air in an electrochemical reaction that releases electricity. This powers a 151-hp electric motor driving the vehicle, with help from a nickel-metal-hydride buffer battery. Range in the Mirai is more than in an electric vehicle but not as much you’d expect in a traditional gas-powered model. The EPA estimates 312 miles on a single fill-up of hydrogen. So far, we haven’t been able to achieve anything near that projected range according to the range readout on the car’s display, but that’s something we’ll explore in future updates.

Priced at $58,335, the four-seater Mirai comes well-appointed. Our model, painted in Elemental Silver, features LED headlights and taillights as well as 17-inch alloy wheels and rain-sensing windshield wipers. Inside, carbon-fiber accents seem to pay homage to the large investment Toyota has made in carbon fiber, including the looms that create the Mirai’s carbon-fiber hydrogen tanks. Cabin controls rely mostly on touch; a 7.0-inch touchscreen complements unique touch points on the lower center console for climate settings and heated seats. Other notable standard features on our model include keyless entry and push-button start, comfortable SofTex synthetic leather seats, a rearview camera, navigation, lane departure alert, blind-spot monitoring with rear-cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, and a pre-collision system with automatic emergency braking.

Once we took stock of our new Mirai, it wasn’t long before we dragged it to the track. The Mirai completed the 0–60-mph run in 8.6 seconds, beating the pants off a 2016 Prius Four Touring we tested at 9.7 seconds. Worse yet was the 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell, which lumbered its way to 60 mph in 11.3 seconds. The Mirai is about as quick as a Camry XSE 2.5, which we’ve clocked going to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds.

To our dismay, the Mirai’s brakes don’t exactly bite when you press on the pedal. Instead, you hear a sound that resembles a deflating noise, and the Mirai takes its sweet time coming to a stop. The numbers back this up. It took the Mirai 129 feet to stop from 60 mph in our tests. That compares poorly with new Prius hybrids, which we’ve recorded stopping between 115 and 119 feet.

Overall, I have enjoyed driving the Mirai quite a bit; it’s spirited in the city, and visibility is fantastic thanks to the low and expansive windows. Of course, there’s much more to this story than the vehicle. During the course of our loan, we expect the hydrogen landscape to change considerably; new fueling stations are just coming online, and new competitors are starting to emerge. In the next update, I’ll discuss range and refueling in the Mirai.

2016 Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell
BASE PRICE	$58,335
PRICE AS TESTED	$58,335
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, FWD, 4-pass, 4-door sedan
ENGINE	151-hp/247-lb-ft AC electric motor
TRANSMISSION	1-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	4,072 lb (58/42%)
WHEELBASE	109.4 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	192.5 x 71.5 x 60.4 in
0-60 MPH	8.6 sec
QUARTER MILE	16.7 sec @ 81.2 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	129 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.78 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	28.3 sec @ 0.58 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON	67/67/67 mpg
ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY	51/51 kW-hrs/100 miles (gas equiv)

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