First Drive: Toyota Mirai, the Hydrogen-Powered Luxury Cruiser

This second-generation fuel-cell car boasts impressive tech, but it has very limited practicality

By Gabe Shenhar
Associate Director, Auto Test Program

Updated February 28, 2022

Toyota may be a newcomer to pure electric cars, but it has decades of experience with hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles. Its Mirai is an electric car, but it uses fuel-cell technology to produce electricity from hydrogen and oxygen, rather than store electricity in a large battery.

The hydrogen interacts with oxygen from the outside air inside a stack of fuel cells and through a chemical reaction produces electricity. Water vapor is the only emission. There is only one other fuel-cell car on the market: The Hyundai Nexo. Both cars are available only in California.

@consumerreports
Zero emissions? No need to be plugged in? 🤔 It takes a few minutes to fill the Mirai's tanks with hydrogen, as opposed to hours of charging for a typical electriccar. But the #ToyotaMirai is only available for sale in California because it's the only state with some form of hydrogen infrastructure. #cartok #carsoftiktok
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What We Rented

Toyota Mirai XLE
Powertrain: 182-hp electric motor, one-speed direct drive, rear-wheel drive
MSRP: $49,500
Options: 20-inch alloy wheels ($1,120)
Destination: $1,095
Total cost: $51,715 before the $7,500 tax credit and an additional $4,500 rebate from California.

Toyota Mirai Limited
Powertrain: 182-hp electric motor, one-speed direct drive, rear-wheel drive
MSRP: $66,000
Options: Advance Technology Package ($1,410); surround-view camera, front and rear parking assist with automatic braking.
Destination: $1,095
Total cost: $68,505 before the $7,500 tax credit and an additional $4,500 rebate from California.

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Gabe Shenhar

Gabe Shenhar is the associate director of the auto test program at Consumer Reports, focusing on on-road evaluations, heading technical report writing, designing the annual test program, and supervising test vehicle purchases. A mechanical engineer, Gabe has been with CR since 1992, and spearheaded electric vehicle testing in 2010, including setting up CR’s charging infrastructure. He is a regular panelist on the podcast “Talking Cars With Consumer Reports.” Follow him on X: @CRCarsGabe.