Toyota Mirai sets new fuel cell hypermiling record

The 2021 Toyota Mirai has officially set a Guinness World Record title for the longest distance by a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle without refuelling.

The Mirai achieved an unprecedented 1,360km driven on a single, five-minute complete fill of hydrogen during a roundtrip tour of Southern California, U.S.A, as it set the record.

Driven by professional Hypermiler, Wayne Gerdes and Co-Piloted by Bob Winger, the two-day trip began at the Toyota Technical Centre (TTC) in Gardena, California, U.S.A, home of Toyota’s fuel cell development group.

The duo travelled south to San Ysidro and then North to Santa Barbara cruising through Santa Monica and Malibu beach along the Pacific Coast Highway. They returned to TTC that evening and logged 761km with only two driver swaps that day.

The next day consisted of more local driving loops, where they pushed through 599km of morning and afternoon rush hour traffic on the San Diego freeway between Los Angeles and Orange County until the Mirai had no more hydrogen left and coasted into TTC with a grand total of 1,360 driven, as witnessed by Guinness World Record adjudicator Michael Empric.

By the end of the trip, the Mirai consumed a total of 5.65kg of hydrogen and passed a total of 12 hydrogen stations along the drive routes without refuelling. The Mirai was driven mainly during rush hour traffic in temperatures between 18 to 28 degrees Celsius.