AUSTRALIA – The biggest contribution America has made to sustainable mobility has been EVs, dominated in the industry by brands like Tesla. However, Elon Musk has a serious problem with the new (and curious) fuel being tested on Australian roads: it runs on an engine that has never been seen before and has experts up in arms… although here we are not yet ready to use it.

Long drives and open roads are synonyms with Australian outback, as this country boasts one of the longest distances between two points in cities or towns. Of course, it is not only known but also used as an ideal testing ground for new automotive technologies.

These days, Toyota has drawn a lot of attention by its hydrogen fuel-clean specialist vehicles which use hydrogen clean engines to run instead of the conventional petrol and diesel engines. Drawing on 10 Mirai fuel cells, Toyota’s latest hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles generation has been rolled out in Australia.

Additionally, these vehicles have been put through the ultimate test of ‘real-world’ driving conditions. Unlike the other passenger vehicles which run on gasoline or diesel, the Mirai is fueled by compressed hydrogen gas and as the gas exhausts from the vehicle, all it results in is water vapors coming from the tailpipe.

Australia hydropower energy can be used to generate green hydrogen fuel. Toyota world sees a huge potential for hydrogen vehicles due to abundance of renewable energy. Notwithstanding, hydrogen cars conceptually hint at the shift in vehicle preference in this part of the world.

Australia country consist of a long driving distances and absence of a grid hydrogen infrastructure. For this reason, Toyota selecting Australia as its preferred location to test its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. While, you can imagine, that a lot of Australian motorists go far and away driving across the distances.

In this way the testing conditions of Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai at the two remote island is perfectly suitable for real world operating condition testing. The lack of hydrogen refueling stations in Australia yet, particularly for self driving cars, means that a careful route is a must to have some assurance that they can re-fill.

It is claimed by Toyota that the range of Mirai is approximately 650 Km making it the best option for the Australian highways and long trips. Toyota going local with their vehicles introduction provides them an opportunity to demonstrate their vehicle has zero emissions options.

Toyota is currently having a trial phase of the Mirai FCEV, that is a full electric, on public roads in Australia. A Hydrogen-fueled Mirai vehicle is capable of just a single emission from its tailpipe – a water vapor – and is true to the name, it does produce no carbon emissions.

The Mirai not only employs hydrogen from its tank, it also uses oxygen from the air to be electric in the fuel cell stack. Hereby generating a power for the electrical motor to drive the wheels achieving an EMF equivalent to 650 km with a full tank.

The Japanese carmaker Toyota was first to release the Mirai in 2014. And, not too long ago, a fresh version was made available for the second generation and its specifications include 30% more range and a sportier, updated version of its exterior.

That Toyota has gone almost to the Antipodes to test its hydrogen engine shows that in America we still have a long way to go. Not only in terms of developing a sufficient refueling infrastructure, but also in providing subsidies to companies that want to research and produce this fuel in our country. This is precisely what will happen this year, with the Japanese brand opening its doors in California.

Published in Ecoarticles