Toyota Mirai - The zero-emission vehicle

Toyota’s Mirai will be the world’s first mass-produced fuel-cell car 

The Toyota Mirai is a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, one of the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to be sold commercially. The Mirai is based on the Toyota FCV fuel cell concept car, which was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. The FCV range is expected to be approximately 700 km (430 mi) under Japan's JC08 test cycle.

The name Mirai is especially apt when you consider the hydrogen powertrain takes just five minutes to fill, emits no exhaust besides water vapor, and can even siphon energy into an owner’s home with the Optional Power Take-Off device.

As far as driving experience goes, the Mirai shouldn’t differ drastically from a normal electric vehicle. The sedan is a tad on the portly side at 4078 pounds, but its maximum output of 153 horsepower allows it to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in around 9 seconds.

Like the Prius, the Mirai is not an overtly beautiful creature (yes, that’s some understatement) but it was styled quite deliberately to break the mold. 

Furthermore, because the hydrogen components are mounted close to the ground, the FCV has a low center of gravity, which lends itself to spry handling.

But for now, the Mirai is the future — literally: the name means “future” in Japanese — and Toyota hopes that it will follow in the treads of the successful Prius (whose name means “predecessor” in Latin, incidentally). And this so-called future will become the present starting in the third quarter of 2015.

 The Mirai, and hydrogen vehicles in general, are on the proverbial razor’s edge. If they’re a huge success, the world as we know it will undoubtedly change. If they turn out to be a dud, it was a lot of money research, and hubbub about nothing. Realistically, I find that to be unlikely.

The ‘future’ goes on sale in California in fall 2015.