Toyota Mirai Driving Impressions

Richard Usher with the Toyota Mirai at Great British Car Journey

Richard Usher, Founder, Great British Car Journey…..

 

I have to admit after a few drives in our new Toyota Mirai – I am a bit of a convert to the notion of cars powered by hydrogen.

Firstly, our Mirai is the series one version so it’s front wheel drive, whereas the series 2 is rear wheel drive. Certainly for such a big car, it handles very well and can be taken through corners, with confidence at speed. The ride is also noteworthy as the way it soaks up the bumps is truly impressive, which, when coupled with the very comfortable seats, makes for a very comfortable place to be.

The brakes take a little bit longer to adjust to, as the Mirai slows down naturally when harvesting power, so the brake pedal needs treating with some care. The pedal has more feel than in a more conventional car but you soon adjust to a rather different way of driving.

Performance is more than adequate and I haven’t yet pressed the ‘Power Mode’ button which I am guessing gives you even more torque and acceleration.

Compared with all electric vehicles I have driven, the range remaining reading seemed relatively unaffected by hard driving and in fact, over 25 miles reduced by 25 miles. We will be going in search of some hydrogen fairly soon!

Although it is by no means a lightweight tipping the scales at over 2000kg, it is considerably lighter than the equivalent Tesla presumably because it’s battery is a lot smaller. This means you are less conscious of mass when cornering and also a bit kinder to the road surface. I imagine the front tyres will not be destined for a particularly long life.

I will leave it to those with science qualifications to adjudge whether hydrogen production can be deemed ecologically and economically viable. I do however salute Toyota, for being far sighted enough to pursue alternatives to hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles and producing in the Mirai, a fascinating and highly competent machine with a distinctly futuristic feel.

Finally, the dash display of course baffled someone as technophobic as me! There are all sorts of displays, one of which shows schematically the combination of hydrogen and oxygen causing wheel rotation. It’s all a bit skewed off to the passenger side, so apart from the big digital speed read out, I just let it do its stuff!

We are delighted to have added the ‘future’ to our driving fleet and you can book your driving experience below.


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