After two decades of research, the Toyota Mirai—which means future in Japanese—has arrived. It’s the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered car and it has the potential to propel the automotive industry into a new direction. Like Tesla and many other new models, the Mirai has an electric engine. The big difference is the energy source for that engine. Other electric cars are powered by batteries. Batteries are heavy and require dirty chemicals. The engine of the new Toyota car—with a 300-mile range—is powered by a fuel cell instead. The fuel cell needs hydrogen gas stored in a high-pressure tank as its fuel and produces only water as “exhaust fume.” Most hydrogen is still produced using fossil fuels, but it can be produced through the electrolysis of water powered by renewable energy. That’s why the hydrogen fuel cell car has the potential to revolutionize the car industry. Toyota has done it before: The hybrid Prius just sold its eight millionth model.
Toyota presents world’s first mass produced hydrogen-powered car
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