A fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) uses a fuel cell stack to convert the chemical energy in compressed hydrogen gas into electrical energy to power the car, and water is the only byproduct of the process. The fuel cell stack combines oxygen with hydrogen, separating the hydrogen atoms into protons and electrons. The electrons flow through a battery to power the vehicle’s electric motor. The protons exit the vehicle in the form of water vapor.
There are two FCEVs on sale in the United States. One is the Hyundai Nexo. The other is the Toyota Mirai. Both are available exclusively in California, though one Toyota dealership in Honolulu, Hawaii, sells Mirais because it has installed a hydrogen fuel station. Fueling an FCEV is much like fueling a gasoline vehicle, except you must wear a glove because the pump handle and nozzle get very cold.
Toyota introduced the Mirai in 2016 and redesigned it in 2021. For the 2023 model year, a new Toyota Audio Multimedia infotainment system is standard. Toyota Teammate is a new option, adding advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) including a hands-free highway driving assistance feature and an autonomous parking assist system.
The 2023 Toyota Mirai comes in XLE and Limited trim levels, and prices range from $49,500 to $66,000, not including the $1,095 destination charge.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2023 Mirai competes in the Midsize Car market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2023 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, owners rated Midsize Cars in 10 primary categories.
Listed below in descending order, you’ll find their preferences, from their most favorite thing about the vehicle to their least favorite:
In the 2023 APEAL Study, the Mirai did not rank due to a low sample size.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes a Mirai Limited equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle’s price was $67,799, including the $1,095 destination charge.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
When Toyota last redesigned the Mirai, the car transformed from ugly and awkward to suave and sophisticated. It looks more like a Lexus than a Toyota, especially when you open a door and get in.
Due to the space requirements of the car’s unique powertrain, the Mirai fits you like a tailored suit: comfortable but sometimes confining. Toyota trims the Limited’s heated and ventilated front seats in SoftTex, an artificial leather that is surprisingly convincing as the real thing. Power adjustment makes finding a proper seating position with good support easy.
Toyota says the Mirai is a five-passenger vehicle, but this car’s back seat is tight. Two adults or three children can squeeze in through the narrow rear door openings, and using one with a reverse-facing child-safety seat would prove challenging. A triple-zone automatic climate control system allows rear passengers to set their own temperature.
The test car’s interior design and quality meet Lexus standards, and Toyota trims the futuristic cabin in sparkly gloss black plastic and copper-colored accents. Oddly, the center console design emphasizes climate system access by the front passenger instead of the driver, making the controls more accessible to whoever is along for the ride.
Storage under the center armrest is generous, and Toyota provides several other places to stash your odds and ends. Trunk space, however, is restrictive, amounting to no more than 9.6 cubic feet. You can’t expand it due to the hydrogen storage tank mounted between the back seat and trunk.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The most significant update to the 2023 Mirai is its new Toyota Audio Multimedia infotainment system. It equips the car with:
Depending on the plan, the complimentary trial periods range from 30 days or 3 gigabytes of data for Wi-Fi Connect to ten years for Service Connect and Safety Connect. But the ones that can impact daily living with the Mirai are Remote Connect and Drive Connect, each free for the first year you own or lease the car.
Drive Connect equips the Mirai with a cloud-based navigation system and an Intelligent Assistant. You rouse the Intelligent Assistant by saying, “Hey, Toyota,” and it responds to conversational requests for directions.
Unfortunately, the Intelligent Assistant in the Mirai had trouble understanding me, and when it did successfully interpret what I said, accuracy was hit-and-miss. This middling performance was surprising and unexpected because the Intelligent Assistant works well in other Toyota and Lexus models in which I’ve used it.
Aside from that, the Toyota Audio Multimedia system doesn’t have a traditional Home screen and doesn’t offer a way to display more than one of the main navigation menus at a time. For example, if the navigation map shows, you can’t simultaneously see data from another panel.
Fortunately, you can side-step this disappointing user experience by pairing your smartphone and running the now-familiar Apple CarPlay or Android Auto interfaces.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The rear-wheel drive Toyota Mirai is not powerful, its 128-kilowatt electric motor supplying 182 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. Those measurements mean the car feels lively from a stop when you step on the accelerator pedal, but forward momentum fades as the Mirai picks up speed. You can see that in the automaker’s published zero-to-60 time of 9.2 seconds.
Though a Mirai isn’t swift, it is silent, smooth, soft, and serene, gliding down the road like a cloud. Aside from the unusual futuristic sounds from the powertrain, which are the only hints that you’re not driving a typical gas or electric vehicle, the Mirai envelopes you in a hushed, plush atmosphere. Especially in Limited trim, it’s downright tranquil.
As such, a Mirai is best used for daily driving situations and not as a sports sedan. The car’s body roll, brake dive, and acceleration squat on local mountain roads proved excessive. In addition, the Mirai’s behavior is challenging to predict due to the lack of wind noise, road roar, tire squeal, and traditional powertrain sounds. A balky regenerative brake pedal feel and numb steering don’t help.
Still, if you’re into science, driving a Mirai is fun if only for the knowledge of how the fuel cell stack works and how the car propels itself. In addition, the air the Mirai takes in is dirtier than the water vapor it emits, so environmentalists might revel in cleaning the atmosphere as they drive.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Surprisingly, the Mirai’s Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) collection of driving assistance systems is one step down from the latest the company offers.
Called TSS 2.5+, the package includes:
In addition, every Mirai has a blind-spot warning system with rear cross-traffic warning. A surround-view camera system with top-down, forward, rear, and curb views is optional with XLE and standard with Limited trim.
During testing, the Mirai’s TSS 2.5+ lane-keeping and lane-centering assistance systems had trouble navigating curves and ignoring freeway exit and entrance ramps. Also, the adaptive cruise control allowed the car to lose too much speed while climbing a mountain grade. Ultimately, the technology is distracting and requires too many driver corrections, and the Mirai is more pleasing to drive without them active.
The test car did not have the new Toyota Teammate option. It uses cameras, sensors, and lidar to provide a new Advanced Drive hands-free driving assistance system approved for use on specific limited-access highways. A driver monitoring system ensures the driver is paying attention at all times.
In addition, Toyota Teammate includes a new Advanced Park system providing autonomous parking in parallel spaces or when reversing into a perpendicular parking space.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Though the Mirai is a midsize sedan, it has a small trunk measuring only 9.6 cubic feet. You can slide a couple of full-size suitcases in, followed by a layer of soft luggage on top. Toyota mounts the trunk lid struts outboard of the opening, maximizing utility.
According to the EPA, the Mirai XLE gets 75 MPGe in combined driving, while the Mirai Limited, with larger wheels and tires, averages 65 MPGe.
The test car returned 43 MPGe on a mountainous 71.9-mile testing route, partly because of a couple of hard acceleration runs and partly because I drove without regard to the Eco score on the trip computer. I earned a 44 out of 100. It’s also worth noting testing day was warm, and the air conditioning was in use the entire trip.
Official driving range estimates are 402 miles for the XLE and 357 for the Limited.
You might wonder if the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai is safe. I’ll let Toyota answer the question with the following explanation of how the automaker ensures safety:
“Mirai’s hydrogen fuel tanks have been rigorously tested and proven to meet Global Technical Regulation No. 13. Its multi-patented, carbon-fiber-wrapped, polymer-lined fuel tanks absorb five times the crash energy of steel. If the hydrogen detectors detect a leak or equipped vehicles with a collision sensor detect a collision, the hydrogen tank valves will automatically close to prevent more hydrogen from escaping while any hydrogen that is leaked will safely return to the atmosphere.”
Unfortunately, the Mirai hasn’t undergone crash testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Choose a Toyota Mirai XLE, and you’ll pay $49,500 for this FCEV, plus a $1,095 destination charge. The Mirai Limited costs more, at $66,000, plus destination.
Unfortunately, the Mirai is ineligible for the federal income tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. In addition, as of this writing, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has closed new applications for that state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP).
Toyota attempts to take the sting out of these exclusions with $15,000 in free hydrogen fuel at one of the 50+ refueling stations in California. In addition, you get complimentary scheduled maintenance for three years or 35,000 miles, and the Mirai is eligible for a carpool lane sticker.
The Mirai is a midsize car but doesn’t compete with other midsize cars. Instead, the Hyundai Nexo compact crossover SUV is the Mirai’s single rival in the U.S. market. The Nexo is the only other fuel-cell electric vehicle available in America, and only in California.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Though California plans to grow its hydrogen fueling station network, it won’t keep pace with battery electric charging stations or new battery technology promising shorter recharging times and longer driving ranges.
In addition, hydrogen stations are sometimes down. Toyota delivered my Mirai test car with a partial tank of hydrogen because the station nearest to me (less than 10 miles away) wasn’t operational that day.
Furthermore, the resale value of used FCEVs is dismal. That, in addition to the cost of the engineering and all the support Toyota gives the Mirai in the form of complimentary hydrogen and discounted lease payments, makes them unprofitable.
Nevertheless, the idea behind the Toyota Mirai is societally compelling and personally appeals to the science nerd in me. If everyone drove an FCEV fueled with renewable hydrogen, the world could be a better place. I give Toyota (and Hyundai) plenty of credit for their vision and willingness to experiment with fuel-cell vehicle technology.
Getting there, however, seems an impossibility.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience test-driving vehicles. He began his career at Edmunds and now owns Speedy Daddy Media, Inc., an automotive content creation company serving several automotive publishers. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new- and used-car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals.
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