(Newswire.net — November 19, 2014) —
Mirai (the Future in Japanese) is the name of Toyota’s newest technological marvel, a hydrogen powered car. Fully ecological, it transmits only water vapor in the air.
Toyota, one of the world’s largest car industry, plan to make ‘tens of thousands’ hydrogen powered cars in next decade, however, by the end of 2017, company hopes to have sold 3,000 of them in the US and about 100 per year in Europe.
Mirai could travel up to 650 km (400 miles) without refueling, which is actually three times electrical car could travel with full capacity. Another advantage over an electric powered car is that proud owners of electric cars have to recharge batteries for several hours. but hydrogen tanks can be filled up in a few minutes, same as any other gasoline or diesel car.
The differences between a hydrogen internal combustion engine (HICE) and a traditional gasoline engine include hardened valves and valve seats, stronger connecting rods, non-platinum tipped spark plugs, a higher voltage ignition coil, fuel injectors designed for a gas instead of a liquid, larger crankshaft damper, stronger head gasket material, modified (for supercharger) intake manifold, positive pressure supercharger, and a high temperature engine oil.
Instead of mixing hydrogen with air like in HIC engine, Mirai is powered by hydrogen fuel which is a combination of hydrogen mixed with oxygen.
Standard HICE need small amount of fossil fuel in order to power hydrogen compressors, however, delivers 42% more power than carburetor engine and produce highly reduced gases. Fuel cells cars like the Mirai are powered by hydrogen and oxygen and produce only water vapor as a byproduct.
“Mirai symbolizes two major innovations. First, this is an innovative way to solve global environmental and energy problems… and second, this innovation will help usher in a hydrogen-based society,” Mitsushisa Kato, executive vice president of Toyota, said at a presentation in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda addressed in a video message that this is “a turning point in the automotive industry.”
Mirai is not cheap and costs $57,000.Toyota is only expecting to sell 400 of them next year, however, officials says they will attempt to bring the price down for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
There is matter of the fueling as well, as there are only a few dozen stations that offers hydrogen at the moment in Japan, however, it will expand to a hundred hydrogen fuel stations more next year.