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Into the future – first drive in Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai

Into the future – first drive in Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai
The Mirai's external charging socket. (Photo: TMC Global)
Melinda Ferguson
By Melinda Ferguson
3 Sep 2024
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To celebrate ‘Women in Auto’, Toyota showcased a string of New Energy Vehicles to South Africa’s rare breed of female motoring journos.

As a woman in the motoring media industry, I’m all too aware of how many men I’m usually surrounded by on car launches. Not that I’ve got anything against (most of) my fellow scribes, but all too often I’m one of two female journos at heavily male-subscribed motoring events. You get used to it.

However, once a year, a few local manufacturers decide to celebrate us during Women’s Month. Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) is one of them. Their annual event kicked off in 2011 when I’d been in the testosterone-driven industry for just over a year. For that one, there were so few of us that Toyota had to make up numbers by inviting some of their female staff to join in the celebration.

While we are still vastly under-represented in the industry, this year 20 of us cracked the nod for Toyota’s “Women in Auto” event at 5-star Ludus Magnus, a boutique hotel tucked away in the Franschhoek winelands. It’s also known for its “green” ethos because it operates completely off the grid.

Toyota’s multi-pathway approach


toyota multi-pathway Toyota’s Multi-pathway strategy and brand direction (Image: TSAM)



While celebrating us “fairer sex” petrol heads, it was also an opportunity for the local arm of the Japanese motoring giant to showcase several “green” vehicles that represent Toyota’s “multi-pathway approach” to New Energy Vehicles (NEV). 

While many manufacturers are hellbent on totally phasing out traditional ICEs (internal combustion engines) in favour of battery-electric vehicles, Toyota has adopted a far more measured stance. Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, the Japanese company has been advocating a strategy that’s tailored to meet the unique needs of the world’s vastly different markets.

Over the past few years, it’s become starkly clear that going all-electric in South Africa is unlikely to succeed due to several factors such as power supply problems, an insufficient battery-charging network and the exorbitant pricing of BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles), way beyond the means of most South Africans.

Leading the New Energy segment


Locally, TSAM is not only the overall best-selling manufacturer, but also the bestselling brand within the NEV market with 67% market share year to date. This dominance is largely due to the success of the hybrid Toyota Corolla Cross which holds a whopping 61% share of the NEV segment.

Globally, Toyota’s multi-pathway approach includes offering Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and Hydrogen Combustion Engines (H2ICE). Instead of killing off the internal combustion engine (ICE) as a way to tackle a carbon neutral future, the world’s top-selling motoring company aims to enhance the efficiency of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. 

In South Africa (and Africa for that matter), Toyota believes Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) are the most compelling NEV solution.

tsam kirby Andrew Kirby, president and CEO of TSAM. (Photo: TSAM)



“In such an environment, we believe that HEVs are the most practical solution for carbon neutrality in Africa,” says Andrew Kirby, president and CEO of TSAM. 

“They don’t take electricity from the grid, they can reduce CO2 emissions by 40%, make use of existing petrol stations and are more affordable than BEVs.”

New energy tech


At the Women in Auto event, we were offered a variety of these NEVs to test drive which included the Corolla Cross 1.8-litre Hybrid, the Fortuner 48V and Hilux double-cab Raider 48V, showcasing Toyota’s “mild hybrid tech”, as well as the Plug-in Hybrid Electric RAV 4, which are all available locally.

toyota BZ4X The all-electric Toyota BZ4X. (Photo: TMC Global)



I was particularly excited to be one of the first journos in the country to be exposed to two of Toyota’s NEVs which are yet to hit our showrooms: the Mirai Fuel Cell Electric and the much-anticipated battery-electric Toyota BZ4X.

The BZ4X will be launched next year as Toyota’s first fully electric vehicle on local soil. It’s an all-wheel drive with a range of 470km. It has a battery capacity of 71.4kW and is good for 230kW power and 337Nm torque. 

The Mirai


toyota mirai A rear view of the Toyota Mirai. (Photo: TMC Global)



I was extremely excited to take Toyota’s first Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, the Mirai, out for a short drive. This was my maiden foray in a FCEV which runs completely on hydrogen.

Toyota has been hard at work since 1992, developing fuel-cell tech. The Mirai, one of the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cars, hit the road in 2014. It’s also the vehicle that was used at the recent Olympics as part of the Paris Game’s official fleet, which included 500 Mirai cars and 10 coaches that ran completely on hydrogen tech.

There was some criticism levelled at Toyota by way of an open letter penned by a group of 120 scientists, engineers and academics, urging the organisers of the Paris Olympics to ditch the Mirai, claiming that the hydrogen-powered car undermined the event’s “green credentials”.

A report on CNN claimed that while hydrogen-powered vehicles emit zero carbon at the tailpipe “96% of the world’s hydrogen is still derived from fossil fuels like methane gas. That makes most hydrogen-powered cars much more polluting than battery electric vehicles, or EVs, and only marginally cleaner than traditional combustion engine cars.”

In response to the CNN report, Toyota Motor Europe said, “The mix of different vehicle technologies in the (Olympics’) fleet reflects Toyota’s global multi-path strategy that the right solution is needed for differing situations to decarbonise transportation dependent on diverse energy availability, infrastructure and customers’ needs.”

toyota mirai The Mirai's external charging socket. (Photo: TMC Global)



Engine-wise, the Mirai produces 134kW/300Nm, has a range of 400-600 kilometres and can charge from zero to full in just five minutes. In my short spin around the hotel’s road network, the drive was smooth and perky. It felt like I’d just driven into the future.

Hydrogen tech globally


We are yet to properly experience fuel-cell tech in SA as there is no infrastructure as yet to support hydrogen-powered vehicles. Globally, this tech has yet to be adopted on a large scale by consumers.

In the US where battery-electric vehicles are being prioritised, California is the only state to offer hydrogen charging stations. According to the European Hydrogen Observatory, there are only 178 hydrogen filling stations in Europe, half of which are in Germany. However, several manufacturers like Volvo, BMW, Honda and Land Rover are investing substantially in fuel-cell tech. 

Hyundai has already come to the “hydrogen party” with its Nexo SUV and BMW has the iX5 Hydrogen fuel-cell car in testing – using Toyota fuel-cells. In 2023, at a media briefing, Oliver Zipse, the big boss of BMW, said: “Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility.”

He added: “One technology on its own will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”

Like most new ideas and discoveries, it’s probably just a matter of time before hydrogen fuel-cell tech catches on.

In January 2024, Toyota chairperson Akio Toyoda told journalists at a business event in Tokyo, “No matter how much progress (battery-electric vehicles) make, I think they will still only have a 30 percent market share. Then, the remaining 70% will be hybrid-electric vehicles, hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles and hydrogen engines.”

As leader of the most dominant global automotive brand, Toyoda knows a thing or two when it comes to the future of motoring. DM

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