The Mirai XLE (base model) will start at $50,455, including the $955 destination charge. If you want the Limited with every option in the book, that’ll cost $66,955. One of the premium paint options will add another $425 to either trim. Optional chrome 20-inch wheels are available on the Platinum for an additional $1,120. And the XLE has a Technology Package that adds a 360-degree bird’s eye camera, front and rear parking assist w/automated braking and footwell illumination for $1,410.
These prices hardly tell the full story of purchasing a Mirai, though. Every Mirai sold is eligible for an $8,000 tax incentive handed out by the federal government, and local tax incentives could come into play, too. For example, the state of California (the location of nearly everyhydrogenstation in the country and very likely the only place it makes sense to purchase a Mirai) will give you an extra $4,500 on top of the federal money.Toyotais also tossing some hydrogen money on the hood of each Mirai it sells, as it promises to provide up to $15,000 in complimentary hydrogen to all owners. We don’t have the fine details, but Toyota also says to expect special financing rates, retail cash back and launch cash back when the Mirai first goes on sale. All of this is starting to make the Mirai make a lot of financial sense, but Toyota isn’t done yet.
It was also announced that each Mirai will get extended ToyotaCare coverage that’s good for three years or 35,000 miles. Essentially, it’s an extra free year and 10,000 miles of maintenance and roadside assistance versus other Toyotas. The FCEV systemwarrantyis good for eight years or 100,000 miles. And finally, you’ll get a free rental for up to 21-day periods throughout the first three years of ownership should your Mirai need servicing.
If you don’t want to buy a Mirai outright, Toyota offersleaseoptions. The XLE leases from $499/month, and the Platinum from $549/month. Regardless, if you play your cards right and live in a state with additional tax incentives, you could end up with a brand new Mirai for an especially low price. You’ll save money over the years with Toyota paying for your fuel, too.
On the topic of fuel, Toyota released an official range figure today. The XLE is capable of up to 402 miles when full. That’s about 30% better than the outgoing Mirai. You take a hit with the Platinum trim, as range decreases to 357 miles due to the heavier weight and larger wheels. The vehicle’s official 0-60 mph time is also out today, and it’s predictably slow, jogging there in 9.2 seconds. That’s par for the course withhydrogen vehicles.
Versus theHonda ClarityandHyundai Nexo, the Mirai is right in the ballpark when it comes to price and range. The Clarity starts at $58,490, whereas the Nexo sells from $58,735. An XLE is significantly less expensive, but the upcharge for the Limited ramps the price way up there, past even the highest Limited trim of the Nexo that goes for $63,360.
Toyota has offered details on the second-generation Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle. One of the most significant improvements to the second-generation vehicle compared to the first is a significantly lower price. The 2021 Mirai will sell for $49,500, which is over $9000 cheaper than the outgoing model.
While being significantly cheaper than the prior model,the new Miraihas a 30 percent increase in range, going up to 402 miles on a full tank of hydrogen on XLE grade vehicles. Another major feature for the car is that Toyota offers up to $15,000 of hydrogen fuel included with its purchase or lease.
The new Mirai is based on a rear-wheel-drive sports-luxury platform and offers “striking design, cutting-edge technology, more engaging driving performance, and a significantly longer EPA-estimated range rating.” The 2021 Mirai is built on the GA-L platform, the same platform used on the Lexus LS sedan. The first generation of the vehicle was front-wheel drive. The new body is lower, longer, and wider with standard 19-inch wheels.
Toyota uses four-wheel independent suspension and has improved handling and agility along with offering a more comfortable ride. Moving to rear-wheel drive allowed for additional hydrogen storage, which allowed the estimated range to be pushed to 402 miles on the XLE. Toyota also fits the vehicle with its Safety Sense 2.5+ system. It includes full-speed dynamic radar cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane-keep assist.
Blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert are also standard on the vehicle. Five exterior colors will be offered, with one called Hydro Blue being exclusive to the Limited grade. Other features include auto-leveling bi-beam LED headlights, LED front and rear turn signals, daytime running lights, and clearance lights. The side marker lights are also LED, and the taillights are LED. The external mirrors are power-folding and heated. The interior also features an eight-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia display.
Plug Power, a provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions, is expanding its support of Walmart’s eCommerce network. Plug Power currently supports more than 9,500 GenDrive fuel cell-powered vehicles used by 37 Walmart distribution centers across North America.
Plug Power has provided GenKey hydrogen and fuel cells since 2010 for Walmart’s material handling fleet. The company began expanding into Walmart’s eCommerce network, with the first deployments in August 2020, and additional expansion planned in 2021.
Flexibility, scalability, and fast fueling make Plug Power products positioned for growth and the peak demands of eCommerce applications. Operating at 99 percent uptime with constant power performance in Walmart’s material handling fleet, Plug Power enabled Walmart to fulfill increased demand from customers during the pandemic.
ProGen and GenDrive fuel cell solutions power a variety of vehicles including material handling trucks, tuggers, automated guided vehicles, airport ground support equipment, and Class 3-8 commercial fleet vehicles for middle and last-mile delivery applications.
“This application expansion signifies the next step as we support Walmart’s eCommerce business while helping them meet the operational goals important to both Walmart and consumers,” said Andy Marsh, Plug Power CEO.
“The challenges this year have increased demand on leading brands providing necessary goods and services to customers. At our distribution facilities across the country, our decision to be an early adopter of hydrogen fuel cells has helped us manage and meet the increased demand for food and basic supplies,” said Jeff Smith, Senior Director Walmart Supply Chain. “This is why we’re excited to expand these solutions into our eCommerce network in 2021.”
Creating the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) technology, Plug Power deployed over 38,000 fuel cell systems for e-mobility and has become the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen. A significant value proposition to end-customers, this includes environmental benefits, efficiency gains, fast fueling, and lower operational costs.
Leveraging its know-how, modular product architecture, and foundational customers the company is expanding into other markets including zero-emission on-road vehicles, robotics, and data centers.
LOS ANGELES,Dec. 16, 2020/PRNewswire/ -- With clean hydrogen gaining recognition worldwide as the carbon-free fuel capable of making a significant contribution to addressing climate change,Southern California Gas Co.(SoCalGas) today announced it will field test a new technology that can simultaneously separate and compress hydrogen from a blend of hydrogen and natural gas. At scale, the technology would allow hydrogen to be easily and affordably transported via the natural gas pipeline system, then extracted and compressed at fueling stations that provide hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Created byNetherlands-basedHyET Hydrogen, the technology is designed to provide pure highly-compressed hydrogen wherever a natural gas distribution system exists. A video illustrating the technology may be foundhere.
SoCalGas also recently announced a program tostudy blending hydrogen into its natural gas pipelines. If approved by regulators, the program would be the first step toward establishing a statewide standard for injecting hydrogen into the natural gas grid.
"This innovative technology could be a game-changer, allowing hydrogen to be distributed to wherever it is needed using the natural gas grid," saidNeil Navin, vice president of clean energy innovations at SoCalGas. "As demand increases for zero-emissions vehicles such as fuel cell electric cars,Californiawill need thousands more hydrogen fueling stations—and this technology may help make that possible."
"We are excited to deploy our newest technology in collaboration with SoCalGas," saidAlexis Dubois, director of HyET HydrogenUSA. "Our gas separation system is designed to allow hydrogen to be transported across long distances affordably using existing natural gas pipelines. With this technology, hydrogen can become a commonly used fuel for transportation, industrial applications and more."
"Hydrogen will be an important part of our clean energy future, and exciting new technologies like this will pave the way for zero emissions transportation inCalifornia," said Sen.Bob Archuleta(D-Pico Rivera). "I am fighting for investments in both hydrogen infrastructure and clean transportation programs in the state Legislature and will continue to do so. I am excited that the testing of this cutting-edge innovation will take place in the 32nd Senate District and I look forward to continuing to work with SoCalGas as we pursue our clean energy goals."
"This is innovative technology," saidBill Elrick, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. "It may provide a unique and strategic way to distribute large volumes of hydrogen fuel, helping decarbonize the transportation sector."
The new technology, called Electrochemical Hydrogen Purification and Compression (EHPC), works by applying an electrical current across a hydrogen-selective membrane to allow only hydrogen to permeate it while blocking the natural gas components. Continuously applying the electrical current builds up and pressurizes the hydrogen.
To test the technology, SoCalGas will blend hydrogen, in concentrations from 3 to 15%, with methane, the primary component of natural gas. That blend of gases will then be injected through a simulated natural gas pipeline testing system into the EHPC system to continuously extract and compress the hydrogen at a rate of 10 kg per day. SoCalGas' testing will provide performance data that will enable fine-tuning and optimization of the EHPC system to accelerate scaling up the technology. Within the next two years, the EHPC technology is expected to be scaled to produce 100 kg of hydrogen a day or more from a single EHPC system, enough to fill 20 fuel cell electric vehicles.
The project is scheduled to begin in March at SoCalGas' Engineering Analysis Center inPico Rivera, Californiaand slated to be complete by the third quarter of 2021.
About SoCalGasHeadquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in theUnited States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers across24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.
SoCalGas' mission is to build thecleanest, safest and most innovative energy company in America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that mission, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2015 through 2019, the company invested nearly $7 billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy(NYSE:SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter(@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
About HyET GroupHyET Hydrogen, headquartered in Arnhem,The Netherlands, is a leading company in the development and delivery of electrochemical hydrogen processing technologies that enable large-scale implementation of hydrogen transport modalities and high-pressure hydrogen storage. HyET Hydrogen is part of the HyET group that creates solutions to make renewable energy sources commercially viable. HyET group is focused on large-scale buffering of intermittent renewable energy, such as solar and wind, using high pressure hydrogen.
Featuring the same breathalyser tech as used by several UK, US and European police forces, the AlcoSense Ultra is put to the test byFleet World.
World.
The Ultra Fuel Cell Breathalyser is AlcoSense’s top-end solution, aimed at professional and business drivers and with a large number of extra features
You know it’s the festive season when you’re asked to test a breathalyser – not least when the message about drink driving is still not getting home to drivers and has become even more of an issue due to the pandemic.
Last year saw over one in nine drivers fail or refuse a breath test when stopped over the Christmas period – more than 3,200 motorists out of a total of some 30,000 tests.
But this year could be higher as a result of coronavirus crisis, due to more people drinking at home but also due to people drinking more.
A recent report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on the back of Public Health England data has revealed that the number of people drinking at high-risk levels has doubled to nearly 8.5 million since February – and it’s the middle classes where the problem is particularly acute, implicating company car drivers.
‘Morning-after’ drink driving remains a major risk among this; analysis by AlcoSense has found that almost one in five drink drive convictions are on the morning after and a third of all breath tests conducted by police after an accident are between 7am and 1pm.
Part of this is undoubtedly due to a lack of awareness of the time taken to sober up. Research carried out by AlcoSense last year found 44% of respondents would drive before 11am despite drinking five large glasses of wine or five pints of medium-strong beer the night before. Only one in six (17%) would wait until noon; about the time they are likely to be completely clear of these amounts of alcohol if they stopped drinking at 1am. Worryingly, a lot of drivers thought they could speed up the rate alcohol leaves their system – for example by a good night’s sleep or a strong black coffee.
Many drivers also don’t know the true size of pub measures and tend to overdo it here too.
It’s not just the risks of being caught for drink driving that are of major concern here, it’s also the risks of causing a potentially fatal collision.Information published by road safety charity Brakereveals that even when someone is only just over the legal limit they are still six times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than someone who has drunk nothing. And even one alcoholic drink can impair your reaction times, judgement and motor skill – increasing the likelihood of an accident.
All of which builds a case for testing yourself at home before setting off in the car the morning after a few drinks.
One solution available on the market is the AlcoSense Ultra Fuel Cell Breathalyser. It’s the firm’s top-end device, aimed at professional and business drivers, priced at £249.99 and available from Halfords orwww.alcosense.co.uk.
While the full range actually starts from £44.99, the top-spec product comes with a range of extra features particularly aimed at professional drivers. It uses exactly the same professional 200mm2 fuel cell alcohol sensor as several UK, US and European police breathalysers, has a professional grade sampling system – and gives advanced coaching on how to blow into it correctly, via a full-colour 1.8-inch screen.
It also gives clear traffic light coloured alerts, with detailed readings of your alcohol level in both blood and breath measurements.
And if you’re over your limit, it will not only tell you not to drive, it will even calculate how long it will take until you’re sober and set an alarm to re-test you again later.
There’s also many other advanced features to aid use and accuracy but too numerous to detail here.
Tested – as the device is intended – on mornings, and over a couple of weekends, we found it extremely easy to use and highly accurate but we were also surprised at just how high-tech and high-quality it was.
From the packaging, which makes it look like a premium tech gift such as a top-end mobile, to the device itself, it actually looks completely the job for a professional.
The breathalyser is a dinky compact unit that feels extremely robust and well put together, with a very clear display, automatic set-up to suit the country of location and instant display and response. Literally, all you need to do is set up the time and data – batteries are even included along with 100 blow tubes.
Actual use of it was also amazingly simple – including very clear guidance on how long and how hard to blow.
As I expected, I was completely fine to drive under the tests but the reassurance was very much welcome. And our other attempts to test the system indicated it was spot on every time.
What we also liked was the compact case for it, which meant you could easily keep it in a glove compartment to make sure it’s at hand before you get behind the wheel in the morning.
For anyone who thinks they could be at risk of morning-after drinking – and many people who don’t realise the risks – this could be a highly worthwhile investment.
