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Toyota Mirai construction videos

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Lots of good video in here about what is in the Toyota Mirai.

How Do You Build The Hydrogen-Powered Toyota Mirai? By Hand.

Check out the 3rd video here:
Making the Mirai: Chassis and Fuel Cell System Assembly - YouTube
and here when they put it in:
Making the Mirai: Chassis and Fuel Cell System Assembly - YouTube

Look at the size of those tanks and the fuel cell assembly. How do they fit all that stuff in the car?
Is that stuff under the front seat, the rear seat and where the trunk would be?

Also notice how the tech carefully checks for H2 leaks:
Making the Mirai: Chassis and Fuel Cell System Assembly - YouTube
Don't want that stuff leaking.

The front bay is also quite full:
Making the Mirai: Chassis and Fuel Cell System Assembly - YouTube
 
The fuel cell is under the driver's seat. It is a major accomplishment to get it as small as they have, actually.
I've been trying to understand Toyota's logic and have had the opportunity to speak to many fairly high up folks with TMS, but this comes from Japan and someone has convinced the powers that be that this is the direction they should go...despite all logic to the contrary.
 
With all that complexity this technology will never be cost competitive with BEVs and the complex system will also require more maintenance as there are a lot more things that can break down.

It is a very busy fully packed car with very little space for storage capacity left.
 
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I assume most people know this, but this is a perfect example of CARB (California Air Resources Board) at work. These cars get 9 credits. Toyota must produce and deliver for sale. NOT SELL. Toyota wants these to be a miserable failure. They get to bank ZEV credits worth more than there cost of production. It is a win-win for them. No worrying about pesky warranty and risk of battery degradation in BEVs. No one will want these and that is how Toyota wants it.
 
I assume most people know this, but this is a perfect example of CARB (California Air Resources Board) at work. These cars get 9 credits. Toyota must produce and deliver for sale. NOT SELL. Toyota wants these to be a miserable failure. They get to bank ZEV credits worth more than there cost of production. It is a win-win for them. No worrying about pesky warranty and risk of battery degradation in BEVs. No one will want these and that is how Toyota wants it.

Interesting. Then they did a great job!
 
I assume most people know this, but this is a perfect example of CARB (California Air Resources Board) at work. These cars get 9 credits. Toyota must produce and deliver for sale. NOT SELL. Toyota wants these to be a miserable failure. They get to bank ZEV credits worth more than there cost of production. It is a win-win for them. No worrying about pesky warranty and risk of battery degradation in BEVs. No one will want these and that is how Toyota wants it.

Well, I hope the credits are worth more than the cost of production, anyway. Based on those same CARB rules, the maximum value of those 9 credits is $45,000 (based on not being able to trade with anyone and having to pay out the fine to CARB.) Fuel cells cost a lot of money, and so does hand work.

The actual value is subject to market forces - if everyone's EV programs go well and sell a lot, there could be lots of credits to buy and so they might not be worth much. Selling CARB credits has been very helpful to Tesla's cash flow...
Walter
 
Do you think Toyota thinks hydrogen is better because it means more service $$$ long term and they have ties with oil companies?

I believe the answer is much simpler: Toyota's management likely cannot see or accept a change in the fueling paradigm. Honda is the same way. In all of the roadmap materials I've seen from Honda and Toyota, both companies tout 5-minute refueling times as a key advantage of FCEVs, and many of the top people at these companies believe that consumers don't want something too different than the current model of going to a gas station and pumping liquid fuel.

Honda in particular has enough engineering expertise to create a decent battery car. They've already done so with the Fit EV, which got favorable reviews. However, Honda execs believe that BEVs are limited to local/city use, and the example of Tesla does not seem to have changed their minds. Therefore, they continue their longstanding FCX program.
 
It's mind boggling to see how complicated the mechanics of that vehicle are. I wonder how man tens of thousands of dollars Toyota is losing on each car built. And there is almost no storage space. It's a ridiculous design. Toyota is handed down the wrong path...

Put this in perspective... The first gen Prius was a money loser too. GM execs were laughing at it, wondering why Toyota brought to market a car they were going to lose their shirts on.

I love my Tesla Roadster, but it's not a "practical" car by most definitions, and it's questionable whether that program ever broke even for Tesla. This is how things begin.

As others have pointed out, the Mirai will earn Toyota lots of valuable CARB ZEV credits.

Longer term, though, what's really going to kill HFCEVs is lack of demand. Who is going to want them, and why? You can't charge at home like a BEV. You can't fill at the gas station in every little town like an ICE or PHEV. You can't get high performance like a V8 muscle car, or a high-spec BEV. AFAIK the selling points of the HFCEV are: "It's green! It's the future! Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe! Only water comes out the tailpipe!" Now ask yourself, which of those arguments is a direct benefit to the owner in the course of his daily driving? None. Not a single one provides him with a better driving experience.
 
Tony, I entirely agree with you regarding all the points you make about HFCEVs, but still maintain that the extraordinary level of added manufacturing complexity will always be a major negative from the automobile company's point of view and will hamper efforts to reduce vehicle cost.

In contrast, EVs are less complex to manufacture with far fewer parts than conventional cars and HFCEVs, and once battery costs are reduced through economies of scale and the inexorable advances in battery technology EVs will be cheaper to manufacture.

Yes, the Roadster was a costly car to build but it was the first step on a clear path towards a low cost and long range EV.

The Mirai is on a path to nowhere...