The year 2015 has started on a great note for the Japanese auto giant Toyota (TM, Financial) as it registered much better than expected response for its hydrogen fuel-cell powered eco-friendly sedan Mirai. In just a month’s time the car maker recorded orders for 1,500 cars, compared to the initial expectation of just 400 units. Toyota is overwhelmed by the consumer response and is now trying to find ways in which it can meet the surging demand. Mirai admirers caught Toyota off guard and because of the sudden hike in demand, there might be a delay in the delivery of the cars – the car is expected to reach the buyers from late 2015.
Toyota Mirai. Source: Toyota
A look at the latest from Toyota
Toyota is calling the Mirai “the turning point” and by that it means a turning point for both itself as a car maker and for its customers. The new age environment friendly vehicle is powered by hydrogen cells, a relatively new technology that’s yet to receive widespread commercial acceptance. The vehicle comes equipped with carbon fiber gas tanks that can be filled with hydrogen, which when comes in contact with oxygen, creates electricity that drives the car. Now comes the most magical part – the only kind of emission that’s possible from the vehicle is water and nothing else. Mirai can travel 300 miles (480 km) per fill and time taken for each refill is about 5 minutes.
According to a Car Scoops report, in Japan Mirai carries a price tag of 7,236,000 yen or approximately $62,040. However, the vehicle will be available in the US for a lot less at $57,500. On top of this the car maker might qualify for certain state and federal incentives that can help push down the price by a healthy $13,000, resulting in a car that will cost just $45,000 – that’s tempting! The Japanese auto giant is trying to make a sweet offer to the customers by offering the vehicle on lease where the buyers will have to shed out only $499 a month for a period of 3 years and pay $3,649 upfront while signing the lease papers.
Why is Mirai such a big deal for Toyota?
On the back of dropping oil prices its becoming difficult for car makers to sell their electric vehicles. So one may ask how Mirai is then a big deal for Toyota. Well, honestly no one expects oil prices to stay this low and once the price jumps back the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles using alternate source of energy will be back. The entire world is shifting focus to renewable sources of energy and what better than electricity from natural gases! There’s no doubt the future of automobiles lies in cars such as Mirai and Tesla Motor’s (TSLA, Financial) Model S.
This brings us to the second point why Mirai is important – competition with Tesla. The young ad energetic Tesla Motors is growing fast thanks to its Model S, the electric vehicle that seems to be the favorite of the youth. Mirai is Toyota’s weapon in the battle to gain traction in the environment-friendly vehicle market. Soon Mirai is going to face competition from Tesla’s next launch, Model 3. Toyota’s green car uses a technology that’s much different from Tesla’s and this might be the differentiating factor. The Japanese car maker is also getting all kinds of support from its home government. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Japan is going to ease regulations related to fuel cells and will also introduce self-service hydrogen filling stations. These measures are expected to do trick for Toyota and help make its offering more popular.
