Toyota just broke Hyundai’s recently formed world record for the longest run of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered car. And with this, their sales rivalry has extended to a rivalry for world records.
Hyundai Nexo broke the previous records and traveled the most distance ever traveled by a hydrogen fuel cell car on a single fill-up. It was still a new record and Toyota Mirai snatched that badge from Hyundai and formed a new record.
Two of the car makers have ever been in competition with some of their models falling into the same category. Their competition, however, has taken new steps forward with both the brands contesting to enhance the modern tech incorporation into their future car models, in a performance-increasing action.
Hyundai Nexo set a record and went on an 887.5 km trip from Melbourne to North of Broken Hill, which after the passing of a little period was overtaken by Toyota’s Mirai that covered 1003 km route on a single fill-up. Toyota’s hydrogen-powered car began its journey from the suburbs of Paris where it was filled up at a hydrogen filling station. Its fuel tank cover was sealed with tape and wax. It crossed the set finishing line near the Eiffel Tower, and at that point, the car still showed a 9km range left until empty.
There is a little catch behind such impressive figures though. As you’d be expecting, the car was driven at an eco-friendly mode and wasn’t accelerated to its full potential. However, noteworthy is that the drivers applied no unusual technique that otherwise is not applicable to daily use. Just keep with the smooth sailing!
The drivers were switched at a periodic interval, a new one waiting at a forward destination to keep the test going safely. As per Toyota, all of the drivers “adopted an ‘eco-driving style but no special techniques that could not be used by everyday drivers”.
Mirai tank can store up to 5.6 kg of hydrogen, which allows it for a driving range of around 650 km. It also applies measures that aid in improving the car’s range and energy storage by regenerative braking and smartly making use of stored energy produced by the fuel cell. It only takes a total of five minutes to fill up the tank again and is as efficient in this segment as the rest of its performance.
These benefits along with a promising decrease in emissions with more use of hydrogen-powered cars are limited because of the lack of hydrogen refilling infrastructure. Catering to that, the world is progressing forward in finding solutions for mass extractions of hydrogen.
The advancement in hydrogen-powered technology sure would bring countless benefits in the automobile industry alone, with better-performing cars, safe for the environment, and more efficient in refilling compared to the electric vehicles that take quite some time to recharge their batteries for you to take on your journey again.
Check out a review of the Toyota’s new hydrogen cell powered Toyota Mirai in the video below.
