Hydrogen engine, Toyota. Toyota Mirai with hydrogen engine

Hydrogen engine, Toyota. Toyota Mirai with hydrogen engine

30.10.2019

Sales of the Toyota Mirai ("future" in Jap.), the world's first mass-produced hydrogen-powered car. The price of the novelty is 7,236,000 yen (approximately $61,100), while the Japanese government subsidizes the purchase by 2.02 million yen (a little over $17,000). According to the company's plans, sales were supposed to begin in the spring of 2015, however, as the number of pre-orders exceeded expectations, it was decided to postpone the date to an early date.

Mirai is a four-door sedan powered by an electric motor with a capacity of 151 hp. s., which receives energy from a converter, the initial substance of which is hydrogen, stored in two carbon fiber tanks under a pressure of 70 MPa. The oxygen required for the chemical reaction comes directly from the car's radiator while it is in motion. One refueling is enough for a run of 480 km, and the filling itself with 5 kilograms (170 liters) of hydrogen lasts about 3 minutes. The top speed of the Mirai is 111 mph (about 180 km/h), while it takes 9 seconds to accelerate to 100 km/h.

Under the hood of the Mirai

In Europe, the car will be officially presented at the Geneva Motor Show, and in America, sales will begin at the end of next year at a price of $ 57,500 (which is comparable to the brainchild of Elon Musk - Tesla electric cars) only in California and only in the amount of 200 copies - at the moment hydrogen refueling there are no stations in the United States, and Toyota, together with Air Liquide, plans to build 12 of them by the start of sales - the price of one station is $7.2 million. As expected, the final price for a car, taking into account all discounts and government subsidies, may be $45,000.

Inside Mirai

In addition to its direct purpose, the car's power plant can also serve as a kind of home power plant for the home: engineers claim that with the help of the Power take off System they developed, the average Japanese house can be powered by generated electricity for 5 days. It is interesting to note that the idea of ​​this non-standard use of the car arose because of the significant risks of disasters in Japan, when the tsunami leaves entire cities without electricity.

Regardless of whether Elon Musk has any reason to worry, TASS, referring to former Saudi Arabian minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani, notes that "the age of oil is coming to an end":

As a result of the proliferation of alternative sources, the demand for oil will decline. In the field of electricity generation, it is already being replaced by nuclear and wind turbines. Oil is still needed for transport, but demand there is falling due to the growing spread of hybrid and electric vehicles. The oil era will finally end if it is possible to practically introduce hydrogen fuel and produce it cheaply.”

says the expert.

Technologies

Imagine that instead of emitting a harmful mixture of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzene and various particulate matter, your car's exhaust pipe emits only water.

This may sound like a sci-fi story, but it's actually a real new car called toyota Mirai, which will appear on the streets this year.


Auto on hydrogen


While we are accustomed to filling our car with gasoline or diesel fuel, the new "Japanese miracle" - Mirai - runs on the most common element in the universe - hydrogen.

Hydrogen gas is filled into a car tank in the same way as gasoline, and then a special fuel cell that produces a chemical reaction due to hydrogen and oxygen converts electricity, which is the driving force of the machine. What is surprising: the only by-product of this process is water.


Undoubtedly, you have already heard about electric cars that cannot go far without recharging, and their maximum speed varies within 70 km/h. However, Mirai is on an alternative fuel out of competition.


This vehicle can accelerate to 179 km/h, and up to 100 km / h the car accelerates in 9.6 seconds and, most importantly, it is able to drive without additional refueling 482 km. The ultra-modern carbon fiber tanks fill up in about Ten minutes.


When referring to hydrogen as a fuel, some people may think of the German Hindenburg airship that burned down over New Jersey, USA in 1937.

However, the designers of Toyota Mirai assure that this situation is reduced to "no" on this car thanks to bulletproof tanks containing hydrogen fuel cells. Therefore, a conventional gas tank is much more likely to be blown up in an accident.


In general, the car has ambitions to conquer the whole world. But Toyota needs to hurry, as Honda, Ford and Nissan plan to launch vehicles with similar technologies next year.


If all cars ran on hydrogen, the air in our cities would be much cleaner. Moreover, everyone knows the fact that the world's oil is running out and, therefore, sooner or later, gasoline will cost insanely expensive (although even now it is no longer a cheap pleasure).

It turns out that if all people change to such cars, then humanity can take a step towards getting rid of the problems associated with environmental pollution.

Disadvantages of a hydrogen car


But, of course, not everything is as rosy as we would like. Exist serious problems, which can become a stumbling block on the way to an alternative to gasoline engines.

1. Hydrogen vehicles are currently very expensive. Mirai, a four-door sedan, should go on sale for $99,700. While the cost of a car with a gasoline engine of the same class is approximately $30,000.

2. The next problem is refilling the car future. You will need to find the nearest hydrogen filling station to go after the tank is empty, and currently there are few such filling stations in some European countries and the USA, while in most countries there are no hydrogen filling stations at all. Presumably by 2020, the number of hydrogen filling stations will increase significantly, but this will completely insufficient.

3. Filling a full tank of Toyota Mirai will cost about 103 dollars which is approximately twice as much, than to fill up a car with a gasoline engine of the same class that travels the same 482 km.

Subsidies for hydrogen cars


Of course, infrastructure cost issues can be partially resolved governments who are able to create incentives: provide customers with various discounts or even provide people with hydrogen refueling for free.

This is already happening in Japan, a country that is concerned about its energy security (especially after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima).

The Japanese government helps the population a lot with subsidies for the purchase of hydrogen cars (the amount of the subsidy is almost $27,000) within the framework of the program, for which 400 million dollars will be allocated from the state budget.

With the help of this program, it is planned to help the population of Japan to purchase 6 000 private vehicles powered by hydrogen.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the California State Energy Committee promised $205 million to provide almost 70 gas stations hydrogen fuel by the end of next year. California also pays $12,000 those who buy hydrogen cars.


But in the UK, such cars will cost expensive, for the simple reason that technology companies tend to "inflate" prices there. People in foggy Albion ready traditionally pay more for such goods than residents of other advanced countries.

The British government, for its part, promised $17 million to build more 15 hydrogen stations in the South-East of the country.

Hydrogen production


Another problem with these machines is hydrogen production, as this is a rather problematic event.

The most common method is called steam reforming. It involves steam being mixed with natural gas, then heated to a certain temperature, followed by the addition of a catalyst such as nickel, resulting in hydrogen and carbon monoxide (poisonous gas). Near 95 % The world's hydrogen is produced this way.

Unfortunately, this is not an environmentally friendly process, because the result is by-products. Thus, although the hydrogen itself in the car does not pollute the environment, production this fuel will pollute our air with you.

As a result, even hydrogen car advocates admit that hydrogen production will pollute the environment at best, just like gasoline-powered cars. and at worst, much more.


Scientists are now developing "green methods" hydrogen production, such as extracting hydrogen from corn husks or using wind turbines to power water electrolysis.

Currently did not have invented environmentally friendly and sufficiently efficient methods for the production of hydrogen fuel for the daily refueling of millions of cars.

Of course, fans of hydrogen-powered cars are adamant that we must move forward, because our future depends on the operation of vehicles that will not harm our planet.

Problems of hydrogen cars


Toyota claims the Mirai excels in just 100 ml water for approx. 2 km way. It is estimated that, for example, in the UK, all cars drive about 488 billion km a year. This means that if every car were a Toyota Mirai, then the leakage from all cars would be 3 billion liters of water and steam every year.

A liter of diesel for one euro? In Hamburg? Fantastic! I remember very well that a year ago, when I was traveling by car in Europe, diesel fuel was noticeably more expensive. But here's another gas station - and also euros per liter ... It's just that in Germany, unlike in Russia, the prices for petroleum products are quickly rewritten following the price of oil, not only upwards, but also downwards.

It’s even a pity that I don’t need either diesel or gasoline today - after all, I’m driving the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell car around the outskirts of Hamburg. Fueling the futuristic sedan requires only hydrogen.

UNDER PRESSURE

Everything happens exactly like at a regular gas station. Through the terminal, I pay for the required amount of fuel, connect the plug to the filler neck, and within three to four minutes, hydrogen fills the fuel tanks. These are two high-pressure cylinders (700 bar) made of carbon fiber with a three-layer structure: a 60-liter one is located under the rear seat, and the other (62.4 liters) is closer to the rear suspension. The total capacity is five kilograms of hydrogen.

For the whole of Germany - only nineteen public hydrogen stations. According to the manufacturer, Toyota Mirai can drive 500 km on full tanks, and the test route is laid out so that I won’t get up in the field; but it is obvious that the current hydrogen infrastructure is not yet able to provide a comfortable life for the owners of hydrogen vehicles.

The situation will change by 2023, when the number of hydrogen filling stations in Germany will exceed four hundred. The cost of the project is over 400 million euros, one million for each filling station. An impressive part of the funds is invested by Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler.

In Japan, about eighty hydrogen filling stations will be operating by the end of the year, also with the participation of automakers. In the USA - about thirty.

I'm moving from theory to practice. I turn on (how unusual to use this term!) the car with the Start / Stop button, reset the trip computer, select the Drive mode with a small joystick on the console and move off absolutely silently.

When refueling “to full”, exactly a kilogram of hydrogen got into the tanks of my car. Before refueling, the trip computer promised 260 km of travel. After - 330 km. But I am sure that I can drive all five hundred!

KILO OF HOPE

Toyota Mirai is essentially an electric car. Electricity is generated in the fuel cell stack by the interaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Electric current passes through an inverter (Fuel Cell Boost Converter), where it is converted from DC to AC, and the voltage is increased to 650 V.

The reaction occurs without a combustion process, and the "exhaust" is harmless water vapor.

The traction synchronous electric motor drives the front wheels. Power comes not only from fuel cells, but also from a nickel-metal hydride battery located at the rear of the car with a maximum power output of 21 kW: it is fueled during regenerative braking and delivers energy during hard accelerations. The maximum output of the electric motor is 113 kW (154 hp).

Mirai weighs 1850 kg, and one and a half hundred "horses" did not promise anything interesting. But the hydrogen car turned out to be by no means toothless! Torque of 355 Nm, available throughout the entire rev range, ensures confident acceleration. And the acceleration in Power mode (the secondary battery is forcibly activated) is such that you are pressed into the seat - you involuntarily believe in the declared 9.6 seconds of acceleration to hundreds. On the unlimited autobahn, I effortlessly dispersed the Mirai to 180 km / h!

Thanks to the low center of gravity, the handling of a large sedan is very reliable. But there is no courage. You need to ride calmly, enjoying the smoothness and silence. Only with intense acceleration, a barely perceptible trolleybus rumble breaks into the cabin.

The two-tone interior is pleasing to the eye and comfortable. Despite the exotic architecture of the panel, I do not experience any inconvenience - ergonomics are in order, and among the equipment there is even heated rear seats and a steering wheel. Upset only shamelessly braking multimedia system with touch buttons.

On the autobahn, I drove literally five kilometers. I drove off to a secondary road, turned on the Eco mode and drove extremely measuredly. Now imagine my surprise when, after 65 km, the trip computer again began to show a “pre-refueling” range: 260 km. It turns out that, despite my efforts, only the 70 km promised by electronics could last on a kilogram of hydrogen - and in real conditions, the mileage on full tanks will be about 350 km. Not five hundred.

WAITING FOR DISCOUNTS

Until now, I have not mentioned the main thing: for this very kilogram of hydrogen at the Hamburg gas station, I paid 9.5 euros. Even if you cross out the autobahn and assume that at a pensioner pace I would drive about a hundred kilometers on this kilogram, it turns out to be indecently expensive. A diesel car of similar power in a similar driving mode would require no more than five liters of diesel fuel, which would cost me five euros - half the price!

And it turns out that the only reason in favor of buying Mirai is concern for the environment. Yes, and that is highly doubtful. Indeed, when hydrogen is obtained from natural gas using a steam reforming reaction (this is how about half of all hydrogen is produced), carbon dioxide is released as a by-product. And the production of hydrogen by electrolysis of water is a more expensive and energy-intensive process.

The final nail in the coffin of common sense is the price. In Germany, Toyota Mirai will cost at least 66 thousand euros! At the current cost of hydrogen fuel, I see no reason to buy this futuristic hydrogen car. Of course, electric vehicles were also skeptical at first, but now Tesla has won the hearts and minds of people around the world. But the popular one did not appear immediately, besides, only moneybags can afford it.

If one day we still drive into a bright hydrogen future, it will not be in a sedan with the beautiful name Mirai, but in a more affordable and efficient car. But the achievement of the Japanese, who launched the world's first hydrogen car into a series, deserves applause. And, as is customary on special occasions, I give them a standing ovation.

Story

The French chemist and naturalist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier is recognized as the official discoverer of the chemical element that occupies the first cell of the periodic table. In 1783, he established that hydrogen is part of water. The first piston engine powered by hydrogen was built by Francois-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz in 1807. He obtained hydrogen by electrolysis of water. And the exhaust gases were a mixture of water vapor and nitrogen.

Competitor

At the end of October, Honda showed a small-scale hydrogen sedan Honda Clarity Fuel Cell. The principle of operation is exactly the same as that of Mirai. The power plant capacity is about 100 kW (135 hp), the declared power reserve is 700 km, the refueling time does not exceed three minutes. The start of production is scheduled for spring 2016.

I have never been to Hamburg before. And the choice of this particular place for the test seemed strange. After all, Munich, Stuttgart, and, in extreme cases, Frankfurt have always claimed the role of the automobile heart of Germany. And here is Hamburg! It turned out that a large port city was not chosen by chance as a test for a serial hydrogen car. It is this city that is the unofficial capital of green technologies in Germany. Here, a lot of decisions are aimed not only at maintaining cleanliness and order, but also at the rational use of resources. Even such as the wind. Dozens of the most powerful wind turbines are located in the fields and even right in the waters of the Elbe.

Public transport in the city has been converted to electricity, and the program for the introduction of fuel cell buses has already become a daily routine. That is why the city already has its own network of hydrogen gas stations. By the way, hydrogen for them is produced by electrolysis (splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen under the influence of electric current) right in the center of the city, where a small hydrogen "factory" is located.

But back to the culprit of the trip. Toyota went to show its electric car on fuel cells, methodically developing environmental technologies. From the first generation hybrid Prius back in 1997 to the current Mirai, it is undeniably the company's automotive future. By the way, Mirai in Japanese just means - the future. And it would be difficult to dispute that the development of such technologies is recognized by the market. Toyota has sold more than 8 million hybrids alone!

And here I am standing next to a production model of an electric car powered by hydrogen. The source of energy for the electric motor in this car is not battery charge, but fuel cells. In them, hydrogen and oxygen react, in which electricity is released. The waste product of this reaction is ordinary water.

Serial production of Mirai can still be called a stretch. The car is produced on the same conveyor belt in Japan's Motomachi, Toyota City, where the Lexus LF-A supercar was produced. That is, we are talking about high-precision and technological, but small-scale production. Now the production capacity of Mirai is about 700 cars per year. But by 2017 it is planned to bring it up to 3000 cars / year. Such a small circulation partly explains the high cost of the machine. So in Europe, one Mirai will cost about 66,000 euros. This is without taking into account government support and compensation. In the USA, with the support of the government, for example, the Mirai costs a much more modest $45,000. But the European price is not so terrible, given that the car will not just be sold, but transferred to a 4-year lease with a monthly installment in Britain of 600 -700 pounds, in Denmark 1050 euros, and in Germany 1200 euros.

The question is logical, why right now Toyota decided to bring such a model to the European market? Is it against the backdrop of the fatal peak of the largest European concern with its diesel gate? It turned out that this hype was only a “pleasant surprise” for the Japanese concern, which has long competed with VW for world domination. The real reason was the interstate agreement on the standardization of refueling hydrogen vehicles. In other words, now all hydrogen filling stations in the world will be equipped with universal filling nozzles, hydrogen storage systems will receive standardized parameters, and cars will have the same filling necks.

I wonder why Mirai, so to speak, has a specific design? There are several answers at once. Firstly, Eastern and European ideas about beauty have always been different. Secondly, the main task of the Mirai's appearance was to emphasize that this is a very special car, unlike any other car. And thirdly, the design was secondary to the layout. After all, it was important to be able to fit the power plant of an electric car into the dimensions of a mid-size sedan. After all, the length of the Toyota Mirai is 4.89 meters, which is almost the same as that of the Toyota Camry.

The progress in the design and development of fuel cells is very impressive. For 7 years, the FCV block has decreased in size by 58%, it has become almost half as light (56 instead of 108 kg), while adding 26% in power. And the specific power improved by 2.2 times

If you fear for the reliability of a hydrogen tank, then know that you have tested them ruthlessly. What they didn't do. They were dropped, crash-tested with a force of 150 tons, tested with double injection pressure and even shot at with a rifle.

Although there is no internal combustion engine, the engine compartment is occupied. There is a power flow control unit and a power electronics unit

After a brief look under the cold Hamburg rain, I sit behind the wheel. And although there is a lot of unusual things in Mirai, you can’t say this from the cabin. A little artsy design - that's probably all. Even the unusual automatic transmission selector algorithm is not new. It's exactly the same with the Prius. So, turn on Drive and let's go.

In management, the car does not differ from Toyota and Lexus hybrids. The same silent start, the same sluggishness of the brake pedal at low speeds. After all, first the recuperation is connected, and only then the pads are seized. Traction is normal. Although the technical characteristics of Mirai are not so impressive, but for their everyday life, as they say, they are beyond the eyes. At first it seemed that 155 horses and a maximum speed of 190 km / h on the autobahns would be modest for a car weighing under two tons. But you quickly forget about it. On the highway, the car goes 150-170 km / h, leaving a reserve of traction under the foot. Do you need more? Definitely not on this day with heavy rain. When maneuvering, it does not feel that the car is heavy.

On the go, attention is scattered when looking at the instrument panel. Perhaps this is a matter of habit, but there are too many numbers and icons. And the convenience of the center console with small buttons leaves much to be desired. Although it looks very advanced

The temperature control system in the climate control is borrowed from the Lexus IS. It is enough to swipe your finger on the touch strip in a smartphone and the climate setting changes.

The Mirai is perhaps even more pleasant and nimble to drive than the similar-sized Camry. The curb weight is considerable - 1850 kg. However, when maneuvering, you don’t really feel this, because due to the low center of gravity, the car is very stable. Tank, batteries are not high. Although the nickel-magnesium battery is located not so low - behind the back of the rear seat.

By the way, the rear seats themselves are separated by a high armrest with a large niche inside. So Mirai is a purely four-seater.

The most striking impression was to be the process of refueling the car. Right in the city near the road, there is a gas station everyday. Perhaps only the inscription "H2" gives it "catering" for cars of the future. The payment process is automated. Money is read from a special card, which is also the access key to the filling terminal. You choose a column, pressure (350 or 700 atmospheres) and that's it.

Then you adjust the car to the column, plug the fitting into the connector on the car and press the green button. The system itself determines the free volume in the tank and refuels the car. For everything about everything a couple of minutes. No longer than at a regular gas station. This is perhaps one of the key advantages over conventional electric vehicles. As for the price, I did not find much benefit here. The price of a kilogram of hydrogen is 9.5 euros. 0.76 kg of hydrogen is used per hundred kilometers. If you recalculate this as an expense, then the amount is quite comparable to spending on a car with a conventional internal combustion engine and significantly more than on a simple electric car and even a plug-in hybrid. So there is still work to be done in this direction.

Regarding infrastructure, there are quite definite plans. In Germany, it is planned to build a network of 50 stations in addition to several gas stations in Hamburg. And by 2023, bring their number to 400. In Britain, plans are more modest. 15 immediately and 65 by 2020. The third country in this hydrogen cage is Denmark, which undertakes to create 12 gas stations in the near future. Naturally, all this is done with government support. In the next 6 years, they plan to invest 650 million euros.

After hundreds of kilometers passed on the test, we try to dump the accumulated water. The idea was to produce about 7 liters. Most got off by ferry. But the part accumulates in a separate tank and can be removed forcibly by pressing the H2O button to the left of the steering column.

When the rest of the water was drained, not so much of it flowed out - up to a maximum of a liter, and then steam went out. Water has a pronounced synthetic smell, as if boiling water was poured into a plastic container. Although during the reaction, perfectly pure water is released. The smell comes from plastic pipes.

As a result, approaching Mirai with the standards of an ordinary sedan would not only be unreasonable, but even ridiculous. After all, the very fact of creating a serial machine with a hydrogen power source is already a huge breakthrough. And the fact that instead of an SUV (as on prototypes) they used the sedan form factor only adds glory and honor to the developers, because the sedan body is more difficult to accommodate all the elements of the system. Engineers threw themselves a serious challenge and successfully overcame it themselves.

The trunk is small. Like a C-class hatchback. And its transformation is not provided, because one of the tanks and batteries are located behind the back of the seat

Perhaps a short meeting with the "future" was not as bright as I expected. This can be compared not to traveling through time for decades ahead, but to awakening in a new morning. Mirai is the future that is on the doorstep. It's not perfect, but more than real.

Summary

Body and comfort

The electric motor is very quiet and the noise isolation from external noise is also on top. Plenty of legroom for rear passengers, even though there are only two of them. A heated steering wheel is standard equipment. A small trunk and the inability to transform it. The instrument cluster is very saturated with information.

Powertrain and dynamics

Complete environmental friendliness of the power plant. Fast refueling is noticeably more practical than an electric car. Permanent supply of traction. The power reserve is like that of a conventional car with an internal combustion engine. Acceleration "average"

Finance and equipment

For its 66,000 euros, Mirai is well equipped, both in terms of active safety systems and service options. The cost of 100 km of run is comparable to the price of driving a conventional car with a gasoline engine.
Toyota Mirai

Total information

body type
doors/seats
Dimensions L/W/H, mm
Base, mm
Track front / rear, mm
Clearance, mm
Curb / full weight, kg
Trunk volume, l
Tank volume, l

Engine

Type

synchronous, change. current, with constant magnet

Power, kW (hp) / rpm
Max. cr. torque, Nm/r/min
Power accumulator. lips

nickel metal hydride

Transmission

type of drive

front

KP

Chassis

Brakes front/rear

disk. vent./disk

Suspension front/rear

independent/semi-dependent

Amplifier
Tires

Performance indicators

Maximum speed, km/h
Acceleration 0–100 km/h, s
Expenditure highway–city, kg/100 km
Warranty, years/km

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Ecology of consumption. Motor: Toyota announced the start of sales in the domestic market of Japan of the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell car - the Mirai model. Now the innovative sedan enters the international market

In Japan, sales of the world's first mass-produced c car, the Mirai ("Future") sedan manufactured by Toyota Motor Corp., are in full swing.

Due to the high interest in the new model in Japan, the number of pre-orders has already exceeded the sales target in the country. Until the end of last year, the Japanese automaker planned to produce 700 fuel cell vehicles, in which electricity for the engine is generated by combining hydrogen from a tank with atmospheric oxygen. 400 of them should go to the domestic market, 200 - to the US and 100 - to the countries of Western Europe. In this regard, it announced that by the end of 2016 it will invest ¥20 billion (about $162 million) in the development of the production of cars with hydrogen engines, having tripled the production of Mirai sedans (up to 2.1 thousand per year).

Part of the investment will be directed to expanding the export of such machines to Western Europe and the United States. They, according to Toyota, should become the main external market for hydrogen vehicles. In total, by the end of 2017, the automaker intends to supply more than 3,000 Mirai sedans to the United States.

A significant increase in the production of hydrogen cars (up to 50 thousand per year) will be achieved in 2020, when the Summer Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo. They, according to local authorities, should be a big step towards expanding the use of hydrogen not only in the automotive industry, but also in the energy sector. And in 2030, every tenth car sold in Japan will be fuel cell, which, according to the forecast of the consulting company Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Co., will bring an additional ¥4.4 trillion in profit to the Japanese economy (about $36.9 billion).

The cost of the new Mirai sedan in Japan is ¥7.23 million ($60.7 thousand), while the government provides subsidies of $17 thousand to each buyer of such cars in the country. In addition, owners are offered 24/7 free roadside assistance, as well as an eight-year warranty on the electric motor and fuel cells. The only product of the Mirai engine is water, no harmful substances are emitted into the atmosphere. A tank of hydrogen fuel is enough for about 650 km of travel, and it takes about three minutes to fully refuel it.

Another major Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co. next year it also plans to start selling a hydrogen-powered car similar to the Mirai in terms of performance. Nissan Motor Co. will present its fuel cell model in three years.

The car is endowed with a TFCS (Toyota Fuel Cell System) power plant with a maximum output of 114 kW, which combines the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells and a hybrid drive. The machine does not produce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, since the only product of the TFCS is water.

Toyota emphasizes that Mirai offers the highest level of safety. Thus, hydrogen storage tanks are manufactured exclusively at Toyota with maximum quality control. The special structure of the tank made of several layers of polymer materials and carbon fiber provides strength and efficient energy absorption in case of deformation.

The Pre-collision System (PCS) is responsible for automatic braking in the event of a high risk of an accident. If the on-board electronics register the fact of an accident, the supply of hydrogen from the tank will instantly stop. One or more of the eight airbags will be deployed as needed.

The innovative sedan has a unique design and good handling achieved through a record low center of gravity.

On the occasion of the commercial launch of the Mirai, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said, “We envisioned a future in which humanity would have green cars that would not rely entirely on oil reserves. These were bold, inspired dreams. Today they have become a reality. We are ready to produce the cars we dreamed about. And we named the first one Mirai. I saw the future. It's very close." published

P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption, we are changing the world together! © econet

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