Toyota has already received 1,500 orders for the Mirai, its first hydrogen-powered production car, in its first month on sale in Japan – way ahead of the company’s expectation to sell around 400 by the end of the year.
The car will be rolled out in other markets through the year and, due to the large volume of orders received, Toyota expects some customers will experience long waits for delivery. The orders taken so far divide roughly 60:40 between government/fleet customers and private individuals.
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Other carmakers introducing hydrogen (FCEVs) fuel cell vehicles this year, including Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Daimler, report that most vehicles will be going into fleets initially.
The carmakers hope that small volume production starting this year will accelerate FCEV development and speed up the establishment of an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations.
To help encourage the development of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, Toyota recently made thousands of its global hydrogen fuel cell patents available to others, free of any royalties.
