There has long been a debate as to which form of renewable energy is best for the automotive industry. Is it hydrogen power with cars like the Toyota Mirai, or is it electric power with cars like the Tesla Model 3? There are pros and cons to both, although right now it appears that electric power is winning the race.
Hydrogen can come with some advantages, however. For example, you can fill a hydrogen car such as the Toyota Mirai, up at a regular gas station with a hydrogen pump in less time than it takes to recharge electric cars at a lot of chargers.
To test that out, YouTuber Kyle from Out of Spec Reviews decided to find out for himself just how quickly you can refill a Toyota Mirai. While doing so, he also gave us a full rundown of the cost to refill the car, in a video posted four years ago that has been viewed over two million times.
A big challenge for hydrogen cars is simply finding a filling station, as there are so few in the United States and other countries. Thankfully, that wasn’t a problem this time around, and the video from Kyle made for some fascinating viewing.
How Do You Fill up a Hydrogen Toyota Mirai?
Most people will probably be more interested in how much it costs to refuel one of these cars. One advantage is that Toyota provides $15,000 worth of free hydrogen fuel with any new Mirai purchase or lease. That is a good thing, as it is well known that the Mirai is not a cheap car to fill up, despite the advantages it possesses.
With that in mind, Kyle went ahead to refill the Toyota sedan. Getting the nozzle connected to the Mirai was slightly challenging, as it refused to lock into place, but some jiggling around eventually saw it lock onto the Toyota. The pump first checks for any leaks with slow pulses. Once it is happy with that, it then begins to refill the car with the hydrogen fuel.
The fuel is measured in kilograms, and we see it switch from low to medium pressure as it goes about filling the car up, with some slightly unusual noises. On average, it is much faster to fill up a hydrogen car than an EV. The biggest downside is the lack of infrastructure. The big question is, though, is it worth it when it comes to the cost and overall time?
This Is How Much It Costs To Refill the Toyota Mirai
Earlier in the video, Kyle said that hydrogen fill-ups are expensive, hence Toyota is giving you up to $15,000 worth of credit to refill the car. Once the car had filled up, it had taken four minutes and 30 seconds in total to refill the car. That is certainly faster than most EVs take to recharge at a charging station.
In terms of the price, the total cost came to $60.29. So it is certainly much more expensive than an electric car, and not too dissimilar to the cost of refilling some regular cars with a gasoline engine. But the actual process of refilling the Mirai was incredibly easy. It’s easy to connect the car up; it takes just a few minutes, and you are on your way quite quickly. The biggest downside, though, is easily the cost and lack of charging infrastructure.