The Toyota Mirai packs three hydrogen tanks, providing an EPA range of 420 miles, although, with careful driving, the fuel cell car can drive for much longer.
Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell car, the Mirai, has set a Guinness World Record for the highest distance traveled on a single tank of hydrogen.
According to the onboard computer, the Mirai traveled a total distance of 623 miles (1,003 km) on a single tank of hydrogen, and it still had a range of about 5.5 miles left, according to the onboard computer.
The journey took place on May 26 in Orly, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris. At 5:43 am, the drivers filled Mirai’s three tanks trio tanks at an HYSETCO hydrogen filling station with 12 pounds (5.6 kg) of hydrogen, and then the journey started.
The team drove on the public roads of Southern Paris and in the Loir-et-Cher and Indre-et-Loire regions. Although they didn’t use any special techniques that a regular driver couldn’t do, they opted for an economical driving style. The distance traveled, and the fuel consumption rate was calculated by an independent authority. After the calculations, they found that the average fuel consumption on the journey was 1.2 pounds/62 miles.
Toyota assembled a group of four drivers to cover the 623-mile distance. The first one to sit behind the wheel was James Olden, an engineer at Toyota Motor Europe. The second driver to assist was Maxime Le Hir, a product manager at Toyota France. Then it was Marie Gadd, a PR representative again from Toyota France at the wheel, while the last one to handle the wheel was Victorien Erussard, founder of Energy Observer.
While the results of the test were quite impressive, hydrogen vehicles are still not a viable solution. California is the only place in the US with multiple hydrogen filling stations, at only 39.
The Toyota Mirai holds the Guinness World Record for the longest distance covered on a single hydrogen tank, but not of any fuel. That record belongs to the Volkswagen Passat, which traveled 1,581.88 miles on diesel fuel in 2011.
Toyota press release, Guinness World Record
