PC World – December 2015

NEWS
The 2016
Toyota Mirai
can drive up to
300 miles on a
5kg tank of
hydrogen fuel.
Driving the Mirai was similar to driving the Prius, but even quieter,
because there’s no gas motor of any kind. The car is very heavy—its
curb weight is 4,078 pounds—but at street speeds, the car runs
smoothly and feels peppy. The Mirai emits a slightly annoying whine
that unfortunately gets a little louder when you accelerate. Its 0-to-60
time is a modest nine seconds, but I felt reasonably capable when
merging and changing lanes on the freeway. The regenerative brakes
feel a little doughy when you press them, but not in an alarming way.
I’d call this car pleasant, rather than powerful, but power is obviously
not the Mirai’s priority.
Now that the first Mirai is on the road, it’s a race to see whether
additional stations can go up fast enough to give the second, third,
and further Mirais room to spread out. Glenn Rambach’s looking
forward to December, when a new hydrogen station scheduled to
open in Truckee will let him take the Mirai to the ski slopes. You can
evangelize this car only as far as you can drive it—literally—and
everyone involved knows that. All they can do is take it one station
at a time.
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