The 2021 Toyota Mirai travelled the longest distance without refuelling as a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, setting up the Guinness World Record. Mirai completed a 1360 km trip on a single, five-minute complete fill during a roundtrip tour of Southern California.
Guinness World Records closely monitored the record attempt that took place over the two days. It was driven by professional hypermiler Wayne Gerdes, with Bob Winger as his co-pilot.
Also Read | Potential reasons behind Ford Motor’s exit from India
The two-day trip started on August 23, 2021, at the Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Gardena, California. The first day began with the FCEV travelling south to San Ysidro and later north to Santa Barbara through Santa Monica and Malibu beach. Logging 761 km, the duo then returned to Toyota Technical Center (TTC).
Day 2 saw the team push through 600 km on the San Diego freeway between Los Angeles and Orange County amid morning and afternoon rush. The journey continued until the car had no more hydrogen left, after which it coasted back to TTC clocking in1360km of journey.
Also Read | GM, Ford halt production due to worsening chip shortage
During its efficiency-focused journey, the company said, “Mirai consumed a total of 5.65 kg of hydrogen and logged an impressive 152 MPGe with water as its only emission.” As a matter of fact, the FCEV went through a total of 12 hydrogen stations without refuelling, additionally emitting zero kg of CO2.
Bob Carter, Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor North America said, “In 2016, the Toyota Mirai was the first production fuel cell electric vehicle available for retail sale in North America, and now the next generation Mirai is setting distance records. We are proud to be leaders of this exciting technology, which is just one of a growing lineup of zero-emission vehicles in our portfolio.”
The automaker said, “The landmark results were accomplished by drivers skilled in hypermiling techniques that optimized the Mirai’s vehicle performance under specific weather and driving conditions.”