TOYOTA ON THE ROAD TO ZERO EMISSIONS AT AARC

Toyota is at the forefront of fuel-cell automotive development on a global scale, and is working towards bringing their 'car of the future' to Australia.

The company has welcomed three Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicles to the country and is set to showcase the technology over the next three years. Toyota is hoping this activity will start conversations about what needs to be done to bring the eco-friendly vehicles to the Australian market.

The Mirai is a fully electric vehicle which uses stored energy in the form of hydrogen. The vehicle’s hydrogen fuel-cell stack generates electricity via a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to power the electric motor with zero CO₂ emissions. In fact, the only emission from the vehicle is water. The driving range of a Mirai is around 550km (based on European NEDC Cycle) and refuelling takes three to five minutes using a commercial refueller.

At this stage the Mirai is available in Japan, USA (California) and Europe. Currently, Australia does not have the required refuelling infrastructure to support the introduction of fuel cell vehicles into the country.

A Toyota spokesperson stated that the company is hoping the trial will “…raise awareness of this technology and highlight the infrastructure requirements to support the implementation of fuel-cell vehicles in Australia.”

All three Mirai vehicles recently paid a visit to AARC Automotive Proving Ground as part of a conference where attendees had the opportunity to experience the vehicle first hand on our various tracks and facilities.

Prior to importing any vehicle into the country, Toyota conducts extensive testing to confirm suitability to Australian roads and environmental conditions. Toyota believes the fuel-cell vehicles have great potential and could well be a viable and sustainable option for the future of automotive mobility in Australia.