The Toyota Mirai is a hydrogen fuel cell sedan and the first fuel cell vehicle to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The 2020 Mirai is the final model year of the first generation, known internally as the JPD10, which went into production in December 2014 and was sold as a 2015 through 2020 model. An all-new second-generation Mirai, built on a rear-wheel-drive platform and labeled the JPD20, replaced it for the 2021 model year. There was therefore a genuine 2020 Mirai, but it is the last of the original design rather than the start of a new one.
A Brief History of the Mirai
Toyota began developing fuel cell technology in the early 1990s and tested a series of prototypes, including the Highlander-based FCHV and the FCV-R and FCV concept cars shown in Tokyo in 2011 and 2013. The production Mirai was unveiled at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show and went on sale in Japan in December 2014, priced at about 6.7 million yen, before reaching US customers in California in 2015. It won the 2016 World Green Car of the Year award. Cumulative global sales of the Mirai had reached roughly 21,000 units by late 2022, with about half of those in the United States, making it the best-selling hydrogen car of its era but still a niche product.
How the Mirai Works
The Mirai uses the Toyota Fuel Cell System, which combines a hydrogen fuel cell stack with hybrid-style electric components. Hydrogen stored in two carbon-fiber-reinforced tanks reacts with oxygen from the air in the fuel cell to generate electricity, which powers an electric motor; the only emission from the tailpipe is water vapor. The first-generation car uses a 1.6 kWh nickel-metal hydride battery to buffer power and capture energy from regenerative braking. Refueling with compressed hydrogen at 70 MPa (about 10,000 psi) takes roughly three to five minutes.
Specifications
| Specification | 2020 Mirai (first generation) |
|---|---|
| Powertrain | Hydrogen fuel cell with electric motor |
| Power | 151 to 153 hp (113 kW) |
| Torque | 247 lb-ft (335 Nm) |
| Drivetrain | Front-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Single-speed |
| EPA range | 312 miles |
| EPA combined economy | about 67 MPGe |
| Battery | 1.6 kWh nickel-metal hydride |
| 0 to 60 mph | about 9 seconds |
| Length / wheelbase | 192.5 in / 109.4 in |
Range and Efficiency
Under the EPA test cycle, the 2020 Mirai has a range of 312 miles on a full tank and a combined fuel economy rating of about 67 miles per gallon gasoline-equivalent. When it was new, that made it one of the most efficient and longest-range hydrogen vehicles rated by the EPA. The Mirai carries two hydrogen tanks with a combined volume of about 122 liters and a combined capacity of roughly 5 kg of hydrogen. Real-world range depends heavily on access to hydrogen stations, which remain concentrated in a small number of regions.
Price and Availability
For the 2020 model year, the Mirai was sold in a single well-equipped trim with a starting MSRP of about $58,550 before any government incentives, and Toyota also offered it on lease. The car was available only in markets with hydrogen refueling infrastructure: principally California in the United States, plus Japan, Germany, and a handful of other European markets. It was never a volume model. Toyota has acknowledged that early Mirai sales were subsidized and that the car was sold at a loss while the technology matured.
Equipment
Because it was positioned as a technology flagship, the 2020 Mirai came lavishly equipped as standard, including a navigation system, heated and power-adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel, automatic climate control, a premium audio system, and Toyota’s Safety Connect services. It seats four rather than five, in part because of the space taken by the fuel cell stack and tanks, and it has a relatively small trunk. A distinctive feature is an H2O button that purges accumulated water from the fuel cell system.
Fueling and Ownership
Unlike a battery-electric car, the Mirai cannot be charged at home; it must be refueled at a hydrogen station, and those stations were, and remain, concentrated in a few regions. In the United States the car was sold almost exclusively in California. Toyota offered a hydrogen fuel card to buyers to offset early fueling costs, and it worked to expand the refueling network that the car depended on. Servicing also requires dealer competence with high-pressure hydrogen systems. These practical constraints, rather than any flaw in the powertrain itself, are the main reason the Mirai has stayed a niche vehicle despite its engineering achievement.
The Second Generation
For 2021, Toyota replaced the front-wheel-drive first-generation car with the second-generation JPD20, which moved to a rear-wheel-drive TNGA platform shared with the Crown, grew larger, and adopted a more conventional sedan shape. Its EPA range rose to 402 miles and output to about 182 horsepower. In August 2021 a second-generation Mirai set a record by covering 1,360 km (845 miles) on a single tank. That car is a different vehicle from the 2020 model described here, and buyers should not confuse the two.
What Buyers Should Know Today
The 2020 Mirai is the last first-generation car, so anyone shopping one should understand the practical limits. Hydrogen fueling stations are scarce, the car cannot be refueled at home, and resale values have been very low — Kelley Blue Book showed used 2020 Mirai values in the single-digit thousands of dollars. Toyota also issued a recall in 2017 to reprogram the fuel cell boost converter on early cars. The second-generation Mirai that followed in 2021 addressed many of these concerns with more range and a more conventional, larger body. The first-generation Mirai’s fuel cell stack produced up to 114 kW, and Toyota subjected the model to more than 1.6 million km of road testing before and during production, including extreme hot, cold, and high-altitude conditions.
