I've been interested to learn about the Toyota Mirai. But I understand there are very few places for hydrogen cars to get refuelled in Australia. Is there any kind of consensus on when there will be enough refuelling places before general sales of hydrogen cars will be practical in Australia? I'm assuming it will be quite some years away. Thanks.
G'day bisco, From one Commonwealth resident to another...... If you mean one of our/my governments (Australian Commonwealth or local State), then a pouring of an integral number of dollars between -1 and +1 is suggested. By the way, does the Mirai used compressed H2, metal hydride or liquid hydrogen? David S.
G'day Prodigyplace, Thanks for the link to details of the Mirai and its fuel. As a retired electrochemist, interesting stuff. It's been said before America (USA and maybe Canada) and the rest of the English-speaking world are divided by a Common Language. This could be an example of a coming-together . In the past, the US put the liquid 'gas' into their old-style cars while we put in the same liquid as 'petrol'. Now/soon however, in California at least, some will be putting an actual gas 'gas' into their new style vehicles. Just not sure who will have to change their fuel jargon in the slightly distant future? Or will we still manage to find, on principle, different new words for the same thing ! Of course, no doubt the unmetricated USA will still use the British Imperial psi while everyone else will talk of MPa. Importantly, if Mirai-type vehicles do catch on, will we be able to fill our party balloons from our cars?? An essential dashboard accessory fitting where the 'cigarette lighter' used to be? (Helium has just about run out on Earth due to atomic physicists at CERN, scuba-divers and birthday parties apparently .) David S.
Many people think the Merai was built to gain extra pollution credits in the US system. It has only been sold in the state of California. The statistics I saw for the full year 2016 said 250 were sold during the year and there are only 20 refilling stations in the US. See Toyota Mirai Sales In U.S. Hits Milestone Of 250. Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Exceeds 100
It's long standing California policy, not national policy, to mandate zero emissions vehicles. The original intent was CA smog reduction, but now the rationale has morphed to CO2 reduction. I see it fitting in for smog reduction and/or for countries or regions without adequate fossil fuel resources (eg Japan). Also many other exciting uses for fuel cells but passenger cars is a stretch.
Last I heard, TOYOTA had a mobile filling station which they towed to where the 3 demonstrator MIRAI were at the time. If I remember right, the 3 cars were only here for a short period last year. Caradvice.com.au said "Toyota claims a range of up to 550km from its two tanks that offer a total of 5kg hydrogen storage. The company claims the average cost to refuel the Mirai overseas is around AU$60" - which is a much smaller range for more $$ than a Gen 4 PRIUS. I'm unaware of whether the mobile filling station left the country when the MIRAIs did. The only other filling stations belonged to HYUNDAI - might have been Hyundai Headquarters and another possibly in Canberra.
Yes I remember reading the ACT government has gotten themselves some hydrogen cars. So they'd definitely need a filling station in Canberra. Apart from all this I see I'll have to not bother holding my breath before buying a Mirai. It sounds like a good idea but until they start building filling stations in Melbourne I just can't consider buying one.
mainly horse here - for the garden. I did read about a methanol production "dream" a long time ago - but won't hold my breath on that either.
I think it's rather unlikely that fuel cell vehicles will get the appropriate infrastructure to be used regularly anywhere. It's much easier to convert existing electrical infrastructure into electric car charging stations than it is to invest in production, transportation, and storage of hydrogen on a sufficiently large scale to support significant numbers of people driving fuel cell vehicles.And as a result, I believe we are much more likely to see electric vehicles more in the future as vehicle manufacturers transition away from gasoline.
Even electric is going to be a long while coming - this is the TESLA supercharger network here in Australia today: While this covers the 4 major Eastern capital cities and travel between them, there is about 98% of the country uncovered (it's 4200+km from east to west, approx the same return). And OK for people not leaving the capital cities. For the short-medium term, HYBRID, or better still - PLUG-IN HYBRID which TOYOTA hasn't bothered to bring here yet (a few from BMW, VOLVO, AUDI, MITSUBISHI and MERC are here now) will be good for distance travel. Electric could eventually become viable - after all, almost all of the country is attached to "the grid", with a few isolated communities with local and solar etc generation. But driving long distances would mean long stops unless fast charging is available, which is unlikely in remote locations. Plus - we've got Government here who isn't interested in supporting.
