The Toyota Mirai has become the first hydrogen-powered car eligible for Britain’s £5,000 plug-in car grant, offered to low-emission vehicles.
Toyota’s Mirai is a four-door, family saloon driven by an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. This powertrain delivers 153bhp and emits nothing from its tailpipe besides water.
While Toyota has previously pioneered low emission motoring, particularly with its Prius hatchback, the Mirai is the first production fuel cell vehicle from the Japanese manufacturer.
Recently released to the UK market, the Toyota Mirai becomes one of the most expensive family cars, even with the £5,000 plug-in grant. With this grant included, the Toyota starts from £61,000. Alternatively, the Mirai can be leased for £750 per month over four years – a cost that includes servicing and hydrogen.
While hydrogen refuelling stations are currently limited in number in Britain, the government is planning to make a £7.5 million investment towards the refuelling network. Furthermore, other manufacturers, including Hyundai and Honda, will reportedly follow Toyota in releasing mass-produced hydrogen cars to Britain during 2016. Cars launched by these other brands will likely also benefit from the government’s plug-in grant.
The current rules used for giving low-emission cars a £5,000 grant will continue to be applied until February 2016. After that, a revamped tier system, which is still based on emissions and could include many more hydrogen cars, is expected to follow.
