What Drives Us

– by Jon B

We live in an interesting time. A time where science and technology are at the forefront and in the automotive world, the leading edge in alternative fuel technology at the moment is electric vehicles with manufacturers like Nissan, Tesla, Ford and General Motors putting out their versions of what an electric car should be. Notably absent is the Japanese giant that is Toyota with a reincarnation of its RAV4 EV with battery technology borrowed from billionaire Elon Musk. It should’ve been a raging success – the combination of Toyota quality, durability and reliability and Tesla’s battery and motor technology. Alas, Mr. Toyoda has other plans and the release of the Mirai is an example of his vision of future.

Mira-what?

Me-rye. It’s Japanese for “future”.  Toyota thinks that battery electric vehicles should be limited to the short distance, city driving (although Elon has proved otherwise) and suggests that fuel cell vehicles are what the public wants. Toyota suggests that those that are used to petrol-powered vehicles will warm up to fuel cell cars as the range and refuelling times are similar. Excuse me Toyoda-san, there’s the slight issue of actually having hydrogen stations where one can refuel in the first place. Nevertheless, the focus of the article is the Mirai and not a discussion of which form of fuel or energy the future should use.

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