Toyota New Zealand’s senior hydrogen programme manager is happy to gas bag about why his brand believes Mirai is the future … and why you need to give it a try.

CAN’T see how hydrogen can possibly have a future here - cannot understand why anyone would even want to sample it?

Plenty of us who were writing about cars back in the early 2000s will have memory of wondering about Toyota’s sanity when it then forecast a big future for hybrids, too.

Back then, that it was hard to see how that proposal could be reconciled into reality, not least when the weird ‘not quite petrol, sort of electric’ science rested on a gawky sedan.

Well, we all know where Prius went, how globally successful it became and, more importantly, what it has spawned.

Today hybrid drivetrains are in every popular Toyota - and plenty of other marques as well - and are a key ingredient to why Japan’s biggest car maker holds such firm control of new car sales here. Six in every 10 new car buyers have hybrid as a consideration point.

Vision brought success to the Prius, so why not to the Mirai?

Rodger Spillane (above), Toyota New Zealand’s senior hydrogen programme manager, recognises acceptance of fuel cell technology as an alternate to battery-reliant electric and electric-assisted cars is taking a long time.

But after decades of research and billions spent, Toyota’s resolve about hydrogen being the future remains firm. And with New Zealand an ideal location for generation of green hydrogen, the brand’s local arm is fully on board with the parent’s vision.

We talked to him about the new initiative of renting out the car:

MotoringNZ: How many of the 30 Mirai TNZ has will involve?

Rodger Spillane: We’ll have three cars involved and it's a pilot programme for six months. So August through to February 2027.

MNZ: Will users be allowed, and encouraged to, refuel the vehicles themselves?

RS: It's an inclusive package, so it includes the fuel. The refuelling would be carried out by the Ezi Car rental staff here at the airport branch.

MNZ: Do you have any thoughts about the potential customer interest?

RS: We’re really excited about it. We feel it's a great proposition.

If you think about people who are coming into Palmerston North, visiting businesses here, or from businesses based here, but coming into the city, then one or two days’ rental is very attractive.

MNZ: What does Toyota hope to learn from this?

RS: We're really keen to see what the data shows us … what we're really looking to do is understand the customer experience. We want to share the enjoyment and the opportunity to enjoy hydrogen mobility. And this is a really good model enabled to do this.

MNZ: Toyotas are highly prevalent in rental fleet: In other respects to operability, how different is the Mirai to say, a Corolla Cross, a RAV4 or a Camry?

RS: It's very similar to an electric car experience but for someone who's driven a Toyota vehicle, they'll recognise a lot of the common features. It really is a premium vehicle, a very nice vehicle to drive. It's rear wheel drive. It's got 137 kilowatts of power. It's very enjoyable and we're looking forward to introducing people to that.

MNZ: These second generation Mirai cars have been here for at least two years, the first gen examples even longer; what other potentials are in the wind beyond this activity?

RS: We're focused on this at the moment; we want to understand and apply the learnings. But we're looking to see where we can be innovative, so I guess it’s really a matter of ‘watch this space’. The objective is giving a wide customer base the opportunity to experience the Mirai. Opportunities for Mirai will follow the availability of hydrogen.

MNZ: You’ve made clear Mirai will never be on sale so what will be the ultimate fate of the TNZ fleet?

RS: We’ve got a small number in Auckland that are in use. We will look to have more Mirai here based in this office (in Palmerston North) so we can share that experience with Toyota staff. And then we'll continue to look for those innovative mobility opportunities.

We don't currently have plans to add the vehicle to our price list. Our focus really for Mirai is it's an opportunity to showcase Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell. That's the same fuel cell that sits in the America's Cup chase boats and the trucks which are rolling out through TR Group.