Toyota has confirmed its first mass-produced hydrogen-powered sedan car will be branded as the Mirai when it goes on sale next year.

 

The name means 'future' in Japanese and reflects the faith the company has put in fuel cell technology at a time when many other car makers are focusing their low carbon investment on plug-in electric vehicles.

 

"Today, we are at a turning point in automotive history," said Toyota's chief executive Akio Toyoda in a video announcing the car. "A turning point where a four-door sedan can travel 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, can be refueled in under five minutes and emit only water vapor. This is a car that lets you have it all with no compromises."

 

The Mirai will become the second hydrogen-powered car on the market after Hyundai's ix35 Fuel Cell SUV and is expected to be manufactured in greater quantities. The South Korean-based Hyundai only plans to build 1,000 of the ix35 until 2017.

 

UK pricing for the Mirai has yet to be announced, but it is expected to be available from around £40,000. The car will go on sale in Japan for around $69,000 and the reported target price for the US is $50,000.

 

Fuel Cell vehicles (FCVs) are hampered by a lack of refueling infrastructure, although the UK pledged £11m earlier this year to build up to 15 hydrogen refueling points across the country and California plans to install more than 50 hydrogen fuel stations within two years. Toyota is also working with Air Liquide, a global producer of hydrogen and other gases, to build 12 stations across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island by 2016.

 

The relatively low penetration has not stopped auto companies investing in the technology in the belief that the longer range offered by hydrogen cars over battery-powered vehicles will see them snatch an increasingly larger share of the market.

 

Honda is likely to be the next company to release a fuel cell-powered car, announcing yesterday that a production model is likely to go on sale in Japan in the first quarter of 2016 and subsequently in the US and Europe.

 

The company said the unnamed FCV would have a fuel cell stack a third smaller than its predecessor the FCX Clarity, which launched in 2008 and was only available to lease, as well as 60 per cent better power output, providing a cruising range of 700km (435 miles).