The new Toyota Mirai has officially set the Guinness World Record for the longest distance (1360 km) for fuel cell electric cars without refueling.
The official record attempt was closely monitored by Guinness World Records, following strict rules and documentation procedures. In the maximum efficiency drive, which took place on 23 and 24 August 2021, the Mirai LXE’s only emissions were water. Guinness World Record judge Michael Empriks checked the Mirai fuel tank seal at both the beginning and end of the trip.
In 2016, the Toyota Mirai became the first commercially available production fuel cell car in North America, and now the next-generation Mirai has set a distance record. We are proud to be a leader in this exciting technology, and Mirai is just one of the products in our ever-growing zero-emission car portfolio.
Bob Carter, Vice President, North America, Toyota Motor
The two-day ride, featuring eco-racing marathon professional Wayne Gerdess and second rider Bob Winger, began on Monday, August 23, 2021, at the Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Garden, California, home to Toyota’s fuel cell system development team. The two drivers headed south to Sanisidro, then north to Santa Barbara, driving through Santa Monica and Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway. The crew returned to the TTC the same evening and recorded 761 kilometers with just two shifts.
The next day, August 24, 2021, the trip was mostly on local routes, where drivers drove another 599 km in the morning and afternoon congestion on the San Diego Highway between Los Angeles and Orange County, to the Mira, running out of hydrogen, TTC, the total mileage of both days reaching 1,360 kilometers, recorded in person by Guinness World Record Judge Empriks.
As a Guinness World Record Judge with 10 years of experience, I have witnessed incredible attempts, including several in the field of maximum distance. The Toyota Mirai’s non-refueling ride demonstrates the power of fuel cell technology. This technology and the engineering capabilities of the Toyota team have laid the foundation for a historic moment.
Guinness World Record Judge Michael Emprik
At the end of the trip, Mirai had consumed 5.65 kg of hydrogen and passed 12 hydrogen filling stations without refueling. Most of the trip was spent in rush hour, with air temperatures ranging from 18 to 28 degrees Celsius. During the trip, Mirai emitted zero grams of CO2, while a car with an internal combustion engine would emit about 301 kilograms of CO over the same distance2.
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The historic result was achieved by skilfully applying the economical racing marathon techniques to the riders, which improved the Mirai’s performance in various weather conditions and driving situations. They also used some simple economical driving techniques that any driver can use on a daily basis:
Maintenance and preparation:
- Observe the specified maintenance intervals. An engine that does not run optimally will consume more fuel and have a negative effect on fuel economy
- Observe the wheel alignment and inclination specified by the manufacturer
- Check the tire pressure regularly; Insufficient tire pressure will worsen fuel economy
- Remove excess luggage and remove the roof rack to reduce weight and air resistance
Driving equipment:
- Avoid rapid acceleration and heavy braking
- Avoid driving too fast
- Minimize the use of mechanical and electrical devices such as air conditioning (Mirai also has ECO mode, which optimizes air conditioning performance for higher driving efficiency. As with Toyota hybrids, Predictive Efficient Drive adjusts regular routes and optimizes battery self-charging and to improve fuel economy and mileage.)
Charged opinion
Is the CO2 savings mentioned there from the Toyota model range? The same full hybrids?
When you can’t be proud of anything else, you can be proud of how far you can go, driving very slowly. The article mentions that professional eco – drivers or hypermillate, which is able to perform really miracles, which is not recommended to even repeat every day, because other road users will be very dissatisfied with such an action. Here’s an example of where with Renault Zoe eco-drivers have enabled 765 km with one charge, and another example with Hyundai Kona in the opportunity 1’026 km. Meanwhile, in reality, the Renault Zoe is capable of about 350 km and the Kona about 450 km.
The greatest praise here is for eco-drivers, who, after several weeks of preparation, were able to make the most of the hydrogen system. Most likely, there were also a couple of changes to get better efficiency (more efficient tires, higher tire pressure, maybe the rear passenger seats were removed, to drive well below the maximum allowed, to accelerate very slowly), which would not be recommended on a daily basis. Charged in the trial, the average consumption on a nice summer day was 1 kg / 100 km. They managed to gain 0.41 kg / 100 km. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that 1 kg of hydrogen is equivalent to 33 kWh, which means that 0.41 kg is 13.5 kWh, which is equivalent to what is possible on a daily basis. normal battery electric car.
Guinness record for battery electric car is 1,608.54 km by a special electric car called The Phoenix, which was an e-waste EV with a 20-year-old BMW 528i body.
