Mirai owners sue Toyota over usability
The drivers say that Toyota’s claims that “refuelling the Mirai is seamless” and “comparable to refuelling with gasoline” are not true. The number of hydrogen refuelling stations is scarce, and H2 prices are high, making fuel cell cars “unusable” for many drivers. According to Carscoops.com, the cost of hydrogen nearly tripled in the last two years in the US, going from $13/kg in 2022 to about $36/kg in 2024.
Also, the drivers claim that refuelling their FCEV takes hours – that is, if they can find a working filling station. And that is not all. The owners claim that the Mirai’s realistic range is consistently 100 miles (or 160 km) shorter than what Toyota promised.
So why not just buy a new car? That is also part of the class action lawsuit against the automaker. Because, due to all these issues, a used Mirai is worth very little. Apparently, after five years, it sells for less than 20 per cent of its initial price.
In the US, the Toyota Mirai is already sold exclusively in California because the Golden State at least has some refuelling stations. But there are less and less. In February, Shell announced that it is closing all its hydrogen refilling stations for cars in California with immediate effect, leaving Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Clarity Fuel Cell drivers with seven fewer stations (out of 55). While California is one of the few markets for hydrogen-powered vehicles, only 3,143 were registered in 2023 — less than 1% of battery-electric cars in the same period, according to the California Energy Commission.
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