Toyota Mirai’s Sets Guinness World Record With 845-Mile Trip
Photo: Toyota
The second-generation Toyota Mirai has set the official Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle without refueling. After a five-minute fill-up, it completed 845 miles, or 1,360 km in Southern California — beating its previous record of 1,003 km set on French public roads.
The record-setting attempt took two days to complete. After the tank was filled and sealed by certified Guinness World Record officials, professional hypermiler Wayne Gerdes and co-pilot Bob Winger set off for San Ysidro from the Toyota Technical Center in Gardena, California.
Alternative Fuel: Explore Toyota’s electrified vehicle products
Their next destination was Santa Barbara, followed by the Pacific Coast Highway. At the end of the first day, which took them through Santa Monica and Malibu, they had logged 473 miles by the time they returned to the TTC.
On the second day, the team drove on a local loop to add another 372 miles to its tally, adding up to 845 miles by the time it coasted back to the TTC. Toyota says the Mirai averaged a 152 mile-per-gallon equivalent and consumed 5.65 kilograms of hydrogen over the course of the two days, estimating that a similarly sized sedan would have emitted 664 pounds of carbon dioxide.
According to the automaker, the car was totally unmodified. Eeking over 1,300 km out of it was a matter of properly aligning the wheels, setting the optimal tire pressure, and more importantly, hypermiling — a technique emphasizing fuel economy characterized by driving really, really slowly.
The Mirai gets an EPA-estimated range of 402 miles, better than virtually all currently available battery-electric vehicles, as well as a five-minute refuel time, substantially faster than any BEV. There are still many important issues standing in the way of hydrogen fuel cell technology, but the range anxiety that plagues the BEV market isn’t one of them.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.