The Toyota Mirai Starts with Success

Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell

As the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle offered in the US, the Mirai was not set up for success, but already has the makings of a successful launch and may be ready to be the car that takes us to a brand new version of power for the automotive industry.  The Mirai with its hydrogen fuel-cell is limited by where it can be refueled, which also limits its sales radius.  So far the only area the Mirai is offered is in California which has installed a several hydrogen refueling centers in a partnership with Toyota dealers in order to make this launch a possibility.

Not only does the Mirai come with a limited area it can be sold but it has a limited sales expectation as well.  Toyota, which is the top selling automaker in the entire world expects to sell around 3,000 of the hydrogen powered vehicles and already has a great start.  This goal is set to start with the launch in October of this year and go through the end of 2017, which doesn’t seem like a huge number, especially since its over 27 month period, but with a reasonable goal such as this Toyota could actually meet these numbers without any problem.

The ordering of the Mirai began on July 20 in order to have the car ready for delivery in October.  After only ten days 600 units have already been spoken for; which makes for a phenomenal beginning to the sales process of the Mirai.  The buyers are being vetted in order make sure the prospective buyers live near where the hydrogen refueling stations are being built in the area.  With fifteen that are being built this year and as many as twenty for the next year in order to have the number of retail locations to serve the California area that will take care of the need.

One certain benefit those who purchase the Mirai will experience is the ability to refuel the vehicle for free for the first three years.  This is being offered for both purchases and leases of the vehicle and the expected range for the full tank is around 300 miles.  With free fuel for three years this can easily be one of the best sales tactics ever used and one that makes perfect sense for a car that uses a different type of fuel than any others.

You might be thinking of the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell SUV that was offered for a while previously.  Unfortunately that program did not last long and the hydrogen refueling stations were not kept operational the way they need to be.  It appears Toyota is going to learn from the error on the part of Hyundai and should see some amazing success from the Mirai, as long as the entire package works as advertised from the refueling to the power and the distance a tank of hydrogen will bring.  Once shoppers get their vehicles in October and begin to utilize the stations and experience the drive we will see if these are the cars of the future that will become a more diverse platform or if hydrogen turns out to be another gimmick that doesn’t get off the ground in the auto industry.

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