Hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai arrives at Sweden and Norway

The future is around the corner for citizens of Sweden and Norway who show interest in Toyota’s zero

emissions fuel cell car, the Toyota Mirai (‘Future’ in Japanese). Starting this summer, both Nordic

countries will start deliveries following other European countries that have introduced the Toyota Mirai

in 2015 (UK, Germany and Denmark) or early 2016 (Belgium) – with the Netherlands to follow later this

year. The Mirai has been launched in Japan in December 2014 and is sold outside of Europe in the

United States since 2015.

In Norway the launch comes at a time when on top of the 5 existing hydrogen refueling stations in the

east of the country, two local hydrogen providers (HyOP and Uno-x) have committed to add more than

20 hydrogen stations across the country by 2020. The hydrogen stations are also expected to be a

priority in the 2018-2029 National Transport Plan that comes with additional funding.

Toyota Norway PR Manager Espen Olsen said: “This is an important milestone for Toyota Norway. We

believe this is the start of something big, and we believe that this technology will play a key role in

cutting emissions from Norwegian road transport, thus helping the country to achieve its climate

targets”. Ahead of the launch the Toyota Mirai has been extensively tested on Norwegian roads and the

car has passed all tests. It has proven to successfully cope with the typical winter cold in Norway. “The

cabin warms up very fast thanks to the heat produced as a by-product by the fuel cells, with no impact

on the range of the car”, Olsen added.

Similar to neighboring Norway, Sweden already has a number of hydrogen stations in cities such as

Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, with more in the pipeline to open later this year (Mariestad and an

additional station in the capital Stockholm). In Sweden hydrogen can easily be sourced as it is locally

produced 100% based on renewable energy, just like in Denmark. Toyota Sweden PR Manager Bengt

Dalström commented: “We see the introduction of the Toyota Mirai as a way to accelerate the

development of hydrogen infrastructure in Sweden.”

NGS INDIA