I think it’s safe to say we have a bit of a morbid fascination with the Toyota Mirai here. There’s something about this car, which is on one level a technological marvel, and yet at the same time might just be the least desirable and usable car you can buy in the world today. I just can’t fathom why anyone would want to buy a Mirai? Even a bunch of people who own Mirais can’t fathom why they own Mirais, at least according to a lawsuit. It’s not really the car’s fault; it’s more a fault of the overall hydrogen fueling infrastructure which, charitably, is piping-hot wet garbage. These hydrogen fuel stack cars can really only exist in Southern California, which is why this ad for one for sale in Elkhart, Indiana is so fascinating. And baffling.
We’ve seen Mirais for sale far from their only reasonable fueling options before, but in most cases, they ended up there accidentally, with purchasing managers for dealerships confusing them for Priuses or assuming they were of the expected, plug-in battery electric variety of car, not the kind that needs Hindenberg juice. This particular case is a little more fascinating because it seems to have been brought to Indiana intentionally, and then, somehow, sold to someone else. Here’s how the ad explains why it’s here:
“Note: this runs on Hydrogen gas We don’t have it around this area. Previous owner brought it here from California and did not realize there’s no fuel stations here. Clean title 52k Car runs great just need fueled up, has very little fuel left in it so bring a trailer.”
I have so many questions. So many. Mostly, how the hell does someone – not just any someone, someone who willingly decided to buy a hydrogen-fueled car and has presumably been living with this car for the past, what six or so years – just, I don’t know, forget to check if they can get hydrogen fuel for their car in the place they’re moving to?
Filling up at a hydrogen station isn’t something you can easily ignore; even if you live in the state that is the heart of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure, the state that has the greatest density of hydrogen refueling stations, we’re only talking about 50 stations across the entire state. Remember, this is a state that takes up most of the United States’ West Coast. Anyone driving a hydrogen car would, I think, be acutely aware that they can’t just go to any gas station, and real planning is needed for refueling.
So how could you move to a new state and pay to ship your car without, I don’t know, at least doing one freaking Google search to see if you can fill up the damn car anywhere in the state? Who does that? You know where the closest hydrogen station is to Elkhart, Indiana? It’s not even in the country. It’s in Canada. Specifically, 352 miles away in Mississauga, Ontario. Even a completely full Mirai couldn’t drive there on one tank of hydrogen, because the range is 40 miles less than the distance. And you’d need your passport.
If you want to refill and remain in America, you’re really screwed, because the closest station is 1800 miles away, in Corona, California:
How? How does someone get themselves in a situation like this? And, even more fascinating is that the seller is not the original owner! That means the person running this ad bought this useless, shiny boat anchor from the person who didn’t think to check if they could fuel their car in their new home, so… what was that conversation like?
Did this person know the car was essentially impossible to refill where they were when they bought it? Or did they buy it thinking they had a line on some other source of hydrogen? I mean, I suppose that’s possible; there have been some attempts to start a Midwest hydrogen fueling station, or perhaps there’s a way to use industrial hydrogen, or they have a spaceship in orbit with a Bussard Ramscoop or something like that. But beyond that, I really don’t understand why anyone would have bought or brought this thing to Elkhart, Indiana.
I reached out to the seller to try and get the full story, but so far I haven’t gotten a response. I did offer them a grand for the car, though, because this could be a fun Autopian project car. I mean, pretty much anything we do to or with it would be the first time that thing had been done to or with a hydrogen fuel cell car, right?
Top graphic images: Facebook Marketplace seller
It never ceases to amaze me how someone lives with a machine that requires geo-limited fuel for years, moves somewhere that doesn’t sell it, and then treats the resulting inconvenience like an unforeseeable act of fate.
It has become obvious that many used-car dealers (and some new car dealers) really don’t “know what they’ve got”. As an enthusiast, I see them make errors all the time with car postings, and conversations with sales personnel indicate that the ads are not typos.
Pretty sure I saw this car for sale on the south side of Indianapolis in July 2024. I actually turned around, went back, and took a picture. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There’s a used car dealer down there who loves unusual small cars, like the MiEV.
I can see the bumper sticker already.”My other car is a Space Shuttle”.
LOL!
I wonder if a Walter White type person thought they could make their own hydrogen, then discovered it was harder than they thought
I could totally buy that theory.
I see these once in a while around LA, along with the much prettier (and Lexus LS-based) second gen Mirais. The second gen ones really are quite nice looking: a slighty weird but sorta handsome long/low Japanese sedan.
I read somewhere that the high pressure hydrogen storage tanks in these (and other things) are only rated to be in use for ten years. Not sure what you’re supposed to do with the car after that: just use it and hope nothing bad happens? Or is it like other things where people just keep using them past the recommended replacement date like tires, mattresses, Godknowwhatelse, etc…?
I’m not going to google to find it, but I recall that early in the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, some Ukranian soldiers put a Mirai fuel tank on a remotely controlled ground drone with an explosive charge, and sent it over to some Russian soldiers as a gift. I might have even read about that here at Autopian… I’m not sure. This was before the use of ground drones was as common as it is now, and no mention was made of why there was a Mirai in/around Ukraine to begin with. I can’t imagine that Toyota ever sold or leased them there, but what the F do I know about anything, really?
I think an EV swap on a second gen Mirai might result in a nice outcome, but I don’t have the chops to attempt such a thing. 🙂
I want one just to say my car runs on rocket fuel.
NASA still has difficulty containing hydrogen, so there’s that.
It’s a really active gas, but exhaust is water, so a true non polluting car.
Completely ignoring how the hydrogen was made, sure.
Well, sure!
That’s how the energy game is played.
You flit around in a twenty passenger Gulfstream urging everyone to conserve energy.
Nuclear reactors generate hydrogen as a waste product.
Outside their operating parameters, sure. Reactors need to be designed to tolerate the higher temperatures that are needed to crack water directly to produce hydrogen in any meaningful amount safely.
After 10 years… “Oh! The humanity!!”