LOS ANGELES — Gross sales of the Toyota Mirai hydrogen gas cell car could also be small since its launch eight years in the past, however these house owners are utilizing their vehicles in an enormous method.
Greater than 9 in 10 house owners (92 p.c) use their Mirais as their major family autos, stated Craig Scott, director of gas cell options for Toyota Motor North America. Scott stated lower than two-thirds of battery-electric car house owners say the identical.
However it’s a small pattern. The Mirai has been on sale within the U.S. since 2015 and struggled to realize a foothold. For the reason that begin of 2020, Toyota has offered simply 4,717 within the U.S. by way of October this yr.
Nonetheless, Toyota’s reported hole in how some house owners are utilizing the 2 applied sciences showcases methods wherein hydrogen gas cell-powered autos may complement and compete with BEVs down the highway.
“Folks view the capabilities of hydrogen as a major car substitute, they usually’re performing accordingly,” stated Scott, who spoke Friday in Los Angeles on the Automotive Information Congress. “In Los Angeles, driving 60 to 80 miles on a commute is just not that uncommon, and I feel you want the robustness that hydrogen gives.”
Toyota is making ready for that future. Past the Mirai, the corporate has partnered with BMW to co-design and co-develop one other hydrogen gas cell car, which might go on sale as early as 2025.
After all, BEV gross sales are booming, whereas gas cell gross sales stay in an embryonic state. In Japan, the place Toyota launched the Mirai in 2014, the cumulative quantity of gas cell passenger vehicles was roughly 4,200 offered, in line with an October report from consulting agency Work together Evaluation.
For long-haul purposes and maybe others, nonetheless, there’s rising exploration of hydrogen in transportation.
“We imagine in EV know-how, although for heavy-duty and maybe another segments as we speak, hydrogen may very well be a greater resolution,” Hyundai world COO Jose Muñoz stated throughout the identical occasion.
An absence of infrastructure stays a hindrance. Whereas 48,148 BEV charging stations exist within the U.S., in line with November figures from the Vitality Division’s Various Fuels Information Heart, there are simply 54 public hydrogen fueling stations.
The U.S. Division of Vitality is within the midst of an $8 billion effort to determine hydrogen hubs that might give hydrogen a important mass of producers and customers for early adoption.
Whereas many eye long-haul trucking use circumstances particularly for hydrogen, it might not be too late for it to meet up with BEVs as an alternative choice to inside combustion engines in light-duty autos.
“Gas cells are coming in late,” stated Invoice Elrick, government director of the Hydrogen Gas Cell Partnership. “However for those who take a look at the vitality transition, and we’re now going from incremental progress to a 100% transition, individuals are getting totally different solutions to that query.”