It looks like California, home of Tesla Motors, will continue to be the main proving ground for novel automotive technologies. Nevertheless, there is hope that those of us in the rest of the country will eventually get to buy a vehicle with the latest and perhaps greatest zero-emission-engine, should we choose to do so. In fact, to whet our appetites, Toyota brought a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered Mirai to the New England International Auto Show held January 15-19 in Boston.
Unfortunately, test drives were not available. And although the Mirai will go on sale in California this fall, according to a Toyota spokesperson, you won’t find one in dealerships in other regions until 2016, as the hydrogen infrastructure expands from 20 stations to 48 nationwide (still a tiny amount for a vehicle that gets about 300 miles on one tank). She added that the company has been working on fuel-cell technology since 1992 and that the fuel cells have proved to be reliable in all combinations of extreme temperatures and altitudes.
Meanwhile at the show, Charles A. Myers, president of the Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition, seemed more upbeat about hydrogen infrastructure in the state than the Toyota spokesperson. At the show, he told Megan Turchi of Boston.com that people could expect to see fuel-cell cars on Massachusetts roads by yearend, and that there is already a hydrogen station in Billerica, MA. That’s not too convenient for me, but of course everything in Massachusetts is within the car’s 300-mile range, so that at least offers a workaround.
The Mirai and forthcoming fuel-cell cars from Honda and Hyundai certainly aren’t for everyone. Turchi quotes Don Delias, a Toyota subject matter expert on the Mirai, as saying the cars are for “trailblazers” and “people who want to lead change. It is more about the way people think and if they want to be a part of something new.” He added that the cars are already on the road in Japan and that Toyota is looking to increase production.
Meanwhile those of us looking for a low- or zero-emission vehicle on the New England Auto Show floor would have to settle for something like a BMW i3, Chevy Volt, Ford Fusion, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, or Volkswagon e-Golf.
Also at the show, Ford was touting improvements to traditional internal combustion engines to boost efficiency by 20% while cutting emissions by 15%. The company cited its EcoBoost engine technology, which a spokesperson described as employing direct injection with turbocharging. The company will soon debut an F-150 pickup with a 2.7-l EcoBoost engine with a compacted graphite iron (CGI) block.
