Toyota has revealed more information on its upcoming hydrogen-powered car, which will be called Toyota Mirai. The model was previously known as the FCV.
The Toyota Mirai is already available to order in Japan, and arrives in Europe and the US in summer 2015. The first few examples arrived in the UK on the second week of August to prepare for the model's official launch in September.
The exterior styling was revealed at the LA motor show, and the European-spec interior was shown at the Geneva motor show in March 2015.
Toyota says the showroom price for Western markets has yet to be decided, partly because it does not know what, if any, government subsidies will be available for the Mirai. It has suggested that it will cost around €66,000 plus local taxes in Europe. This will work out at an on-sale price of around £60,000 in the UK.
It is a standalone five-door, four-seat hatchback model that offers a boot capacity of around 360 litres. Final specification for Europe is not yet confirmed, but it is expected to come with climate control, a rear parking camera, satellite-navigation, LED headlights and man-made leather upholstery. The safety kit is likely to include a pre-crash system, an adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and lane-change assist.
Initial demand for the Mirai has meant Toyota has announced its plans to increase production over the coming years. The company will produce around 700 Mirais this year, followed by around 2000 in 2016 and approximately 3000 in 2017. The increase has come as a result of initial sales success in Japan - around 1500 orders were placed in the first month of the car being available. The increase in production is also to cope with the planned launch in the USA and Europe later this year.
Initially, just 11 cars are heading for the UK, being handed over to select fleet customers for assessment. It is expected that as many as 50 cars will be imported to the UK in 2016.
This is a similar strategy adopted by Toyota with the UK launch of the original Prius in late-2000, where initial imports were in small numbers. President and Managing Director of Toyota GB, Paul Van der Burgh confirmed the plan, admitting that it is not expecting an overnight success.
"We're on a learning curve" he admitted. "The infrastructure has to grow and the expectation is, that by getting real experience on that we will get faster. We do see it (Mirai) as a car of the future and we do expect exponential growth to happen, but before that we need the right conditions. The infrastructure is not there at the moment, but if you wait for the infrastructure, you'll never learn anything.
"You need government and our infrastructure partners aligned with what we are trying to do. In Japan, for example, hydrogen has had huge support, and that has allowed the technology to accelerate."
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Ugly ducklings can grow into beautiful swans
Good point re mpg matters. Just a thought.... imagine that the "who" had enough money not to worry, and wanted instead to buy a bit of automotive development, history in the making, and to make a statement, and to be noticed in a way that none of those alternative vehicles you cite would. They could of course have a garage full of exotics that they have got bored with, and want something not many others have. Or be a company with cash to spare on a zero tailpipe emissions vehicle to impress clients.
Rest will follow