The Mirai hydrogen-powered production car will be at the centre of two "halo" projects for Toyota New Zealand (TNZ) next year. The first is a car sharing trial involving 10 high-profile NZ companies. The second takes place on the water, with Emirates Team NZ America's Cup chase boats powered by Mirai fuel cells.
Emirates Team NZ has already gone public on the boat project. It has been working with Christchurch company AFCryo to develop a hydrogen-powered foiling chase boat capable of supporting an AC75 yacht through an entire America's Cup campaign.
Once signed off, and with the agreement of Challenger of Record Ineos Team UK, hydrogen support boats could become compulsory for the 37th America's Cup campaign. Ineos is in support of the development - in line with its principal sponsor's business interests.
The fuel cells used for the boat have come straight out of a Mirai, says TNZ chief executive Neeraj Lala: "We are buzzing at the idea of putting Toyota fuel cells into a chase boat... what it does is give TNZ an opportunity to diversify its business. It really does.
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“We’re stated very publicly that we're supportive of hydrogen generation and advancement of hydrogen tech in NZ.
"That boat goes in the water early next year, and it's going to be unbelievable to see: a foiling chase boat at 50 knots, powered by hydrogen for the first time ever, and it’s been made in NZ."
The Emirates Team NZ chase boat is one "halo" project for hydrogen in NZ. A hydrogen car share project in Auckland is another.
Next year TNZ will add three examples of the latest second-generation Mirai to its Cityhop fleet, and will partner with nine other companies to trial an extension of its existing car sharing service. The final timing and companies involved are yet to be announced, although TNZ had originally intended to start the project in October - until Covid-19 brought it to a halt.
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) like Mirai use power generated by on-board fuel cells to drive an electric motor. The only emission is water, but they require special filling stations. Toyota, Honda and Hyundai all have FCEVs on sale in select international markets, where hydrogen fuelling infrastructure is active.
Cityhop currently has a fleet of 200 cars (Toyotas, but also other brands including EVs) which are available to book at any time. Users can locate the cars through the app and they pay only for the time they use the vehicle. TNZ has refuelling technology suitable to run all three Mirais.
"But this is not a car share experiment for hydrogen," says Lala. "It’s a test of the technology for 10 sustainably like-minded companies coming together, to trial car share.
"If it’s a successful trial, it gives those companies an opportunity to buy fewer cars and to have better utilisation of those cars. It could demonstrate that Mobility as a Service [MaaS] can reduce congestion in big cities and actually lower the carbon footprint, rather than obsessing about one piece of technology.
"These two experiments will give us the opportunity to be a hydrogen fuel cell distributor in NZ. What that does is unlock the opportunity for hydrogen bus assembly in NZ. It opens the door for hydrogen generator assembly in NZ. If we can’t build cars, we can build something else that can lower the carbon footprint of our overall economy."
So it's about the bigger technology picture than the Mirai itself, says Lala, who doesn't see hydrogen cars being commonplace on Kiwi roads in the short term.
"We’re not obsessing about getting 1000 Mirais on the road over five years, because that’s going to be a really difficult task.
"I don’t believe hydrogen is going to be a light transport solution over the next five years, because the reality is that [the infrastructure] is just not going to be ready for public consumption.
“But the country is moving fast in the generation of green hydrogen, which has massive export opportunity, and green hydrogen generation also has a massive advantage in heavy freight."
Hyundai NZ is set to begin a trial of the Xcient fuel-cell 42-tonne truck from April 2022.