Fuel-cell car set for launch
Toyota will start selling fuel-cell cars in Japan in mid-December, and then the US and Europe halfway through 2015. The four-door Mirai will retail for 6.7 million yen – about NZ$72,500 – before taxes. The marque aims to sell 400 in Japan and 300 in the rest of the world in the year one. “In time, fuel-cell vehicles will become mainstream,” says Mitsuhisa Kato, Toyota executive vice-president. “We wanted to take the first step and be at the leading edge.” Honda and Hyundai are also experimenting with limited sales and leases of fuel-cell vehicles with the former unveiling a concept this week. But owners will have to contend with buying fuel. Only a few dozen hydrogen stations have been built worldwide, although some governments are subsidising the construction of more. Yoshikazu Tanaka, deputy chief engineer of Toyota’s next-generation vehicle development, expects it will take 10-20 years for the Mirai to reach tens of thousands of sales a year. He says it’s a risk, but the company faced a similar scenario with its petrol-electric hybrid – the Prius – and that now sells in big numbers. “It was a big challenge when we first introduced the Prius in 1997,” he says. “And it’s an even bigger challenge this time because there is no infrastructure and we’re trying to lead” the commercialisation of fuel-cell cars. The Japanese government also plans to offer a two-million yen subsidy to purchasers of fuel-cell vehicles to reduce the effective price to 4.7m yen. And in California, Toyota is offering free hydrogen for up to three years.