Love it or loathe it, the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is perhaps one of the most important vehicles to have emerged in recent times - being the world's first mass production hydrogen fuel cell car certainly counts for something, right?
First introduced to the world in late 2014, production of the Toyota Mirai has now begun with the Japanese automaker releasing a series of videos that take viewers behind the scenes on the Mirai's assembly process. The Mirai will be assembled at Toyota's Motomachi plant in Toyota City, Japan.
An estimated total of just three units will be produced daily for now with Toyota planning to ramp up production of the Mirai by next year due to an unexpected surge in local demand for the car. Previously, the Motomachi plant was responsible for churning out models like the Supra, RAV4 and Lexus LFA supercar.
For those who are unfamiliar, the Toyota Mirai is an unconventional-looking sedan with an even more interesting method of propulsion. With hydrogen as fuel, the car emits only water vapour, can be "refuelled" in under five minutes and possesses an operational range of up to 483 kilometres.
Instead of relying on obsolete batteries to power its electric motor, the Mirai employs a combination of hydrogen and oxygen to produce the required voltage. On the Mirai, its fuel stack is located under the driver and front passenger seats and boasts a power figure of 3.1 kW/L.
Total power output is the equivalent of 153 hp, leading to a fairly acceptable 0-100 km/h time of 9.0 seconds and a 40-60 km/h acceleration time of just 3.0 seconds. Optionally, the Toyota Mirai is available with a power take off (PTO) system that, essentially, turns the whole vehicle into a mobile power station.
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