Mayor of London Boris Johnson has test driven the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle during a tour of Japan, ahead of Transport for London adding the vehicles to its fleet.
Visiting Toyota's Japanese head office as part of a trade mission, he confirmed that Transport for London will take delivery of some of the first Mirai vehicles in the UK, along with with private car service Green Tomato Cars and hydrogen energy system manufacturer ITM Power.
The test drive and announcement follows the car's display at last week's Fleet Management Live event, where Toyota told Fleet News that lease rates for the car would be competitive with diesel.
Johnson said: “It is fantastic that London will benefit from these new state-of-the-art hydrogen vehicles. By embracing this technology of the future, we aim to consolidate hydrogen’s role as a practical alternative fuel for the 21st century and beyond. I am sure that Transport for London will provide the ideal environment for us to see everything Mirai can do and, in doing so, take another great step towards improving air quality in our city and protecting the health of Londoners.”
Paul Van der Burgh, Toyota GB president and managing director said: “We have been delighted to welcome the Mayor of London to our headquarters in Japan to see for himself Toyota’s commitment to sustainable mobility. Toyota believes in hydrogen as a key enabler for building a future zero emissions society and we applaud the mayor’s commitment to embracing new technology in his mission to make London a leading global city for low-emission, low-carbon transport.
“The success of hydrogen will require constructive dialogue and action, bringing together industry, national governments and city authorities like London to share and develop skills and experience and to communicate the benefits that can be delivered to business and to individuals.
"Our Mirai fuel cell vehicle is a milestone in the history of the motor car and opens up unprecedented opportunities for cleaner, sustainable transport. Transport for London and the city it serves will provide the ideal environment for Mirai to demonstrate the significant potential of hydrogen as a practical alternative fuel for the next century and beyond.”
Rob Chisholm, Applewood Vehicle Finance Ltd - 13/10/2015 12:34
We can only hope that Toyota have success with the Mirai. It seemed that Ford or Honda would beat them to it, but for some reason their interest appears to have waned, possibly because of the slow take up on electric vehicles, but that is an altogether different ball game. Hydrogen power is clearly the way forward as a long term alternative to fossil fuels. Let's hope our Government gets behind this technology with a similar grant scheme after having wasted so much in the electric vehicle market.