A Toyota Mirai was spotted at Toyota’s facility in Bangalore and the Mirai is basically an all-electric car which is powered by hydrogen fuel cells instead of conventional batteries.
Emission norms are getting stricter by the day and with the CAFE norms set to be updated in 2022, car manufacturers are continuously looking to offer cleaner and more efficient cars. Some manufacturers have already said that they would discontinue diesel cars post BS-VI and some others are focusing on CNG. And of course, electric mobility is being given a great push too. Amidst all this, a Toyota Mirai – an all electric car powered by hydrogen fuel cell – has been spotted in India. So is Toyota evaluating to launch the Mirai in India?
The Toyota Mirai was spotted outside Toyota’s facility in Bangalore. It is powered by an all-electric motor that puts out 151PS of power and 335Nm of torque. The motors is powered by 370 fuel cells while hydrogen gas is stored in a 60-litre tank. The fuel cells use a combination of hydrogen gas and oxygen to produce electricity which then powers the electric motor. The Mirai has a range of 502 km.
The spy shot of the Mirai spotted in India reveals only the rear quarter of the car. It gets a split tail lamp setup and and blacked out C-pillars to give the roof a floating effect. It also gets dual-tone alloy wheels. The front end of the car is more readily identifiable as a Toyota with the face looking a lot similar to the Corolla Altis. It gets a similar grille and sleek all LED headlamps.
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The cabin is well appointed too. It gets a centrally mounted instrument cluster and the dashboard also gets a 7.0 inch touchscreen infotainment system. Below, there’s another touch sensitive panel which houses the climate controls. Although the infotainment system does not support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, the Mirai gets a host of goodies in the form of a 11-speaker JBL sound system, dual-zone climate control, powered front seats, heated steering wheel and seats, coloured multi-info display, electronic stability program, blind spot detection, lane departure warning, radar cruise control as well as three years of free connected car tech.
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So how relevant is the Toyota Mirai for India? Well, not much currently as sourcing hydrogen as a fuel is quite difficult in India. Currently, Toyota’s product line up in India is mostly dominated by diesel powered cars and while the company will be upgrading all models for BS-VI compliance, the CAFE norms which are getting stricter in 2022 will require Toyota to focus on greener cars. Yes, Toyota has the Camry hybrid but perhaps the Mirai could be a good addition.
