Interesting read Peter. The
Interesting read Peter. The Prius was innovative, and a big leap for Toyota, especially since they would not make any profit off of the Prius for several years. But it did cement the connection between hybrid technology and Toyota, and pave the way for many other hybrids to follow. First off, I have to say that I am an advocate for hydrogen powered cars, and I've written articles here supporting them. But the consumer market for them currently is tiny and limited to certain parts of California, and nowhere else in the U.S. The Prius was a risk when it first came out because it implemented new EV technology that was untested and buyers had no history or clear understanding of how hybrid cars worked, and their benefits. But it wasn't that much of a risk overall for the buyer. The key fundamental difference between the Prius and the Mirai is that the Prius hybrid could be used just like any other gasoline powered car, it just got better gas mileage. The gas engine would recharge the car's battery as it drove. In contrast the Mirai (and all other fuel cell vehicles) require hydrogen fuel to run. Currently there are no plug in fuel cell hybrids sold in the U.S., so you need to fill your tank up with hydrogen to drive any fuel cell car. Gasoline and diesel vehicles have thousands of refueling stations anywhere you go. And you can plug in your PHEVs and BEVs at home to charge up your electric car for much less than the price of gasoline. Whereas hydrogen stations are pretty much only located in a few cities in California right now, so if you are not living near one of them you are out of luck for buying or driving a fuel cell car. The hard part for me is that even though I am a fan of hydrogen cars AND I happen to live in one of the areas with hydrogen refueling stations, I would still have a hard time buying or leasing a fuel cell car over a PHEV (which I own) or a BEV. My favorite FCEV now is the Hyundai Nexo, but for the same price I could get a new Tesla Model 3 Performance, which would be much more exciting to drive. With regard to the future of the Prius, the plan as I know it is to offer all of their Toyota models in hybrid form as well as gas, and then move the Prius line up to all being BEVs. Even though Toyota is actively supporting fuel cell cars, until the hydrogen refueling situation changes, it will be a much harder task to sell buyers on hydrogen fueled cars than it was getting them to buy gas hybrids like the Prius.