Mirai Safety Detailed In 5 Meticulous Videos

The challenge of how to make a car that doesn’t run on petroleum is difficult. Toyota has a vision for this, and it’s not electric vehicles, nor hybrids: it’s hydrogen.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are seen as the most cutting edge of fuel technologies. They run on a plentiful, natural energy source (hydrogen) and emit only pure water from the tail pipe. Thus they do not create pollution and don’t depend on fuel being burned.

Toyota has made a series of short videos where you can see its current hydrogen car, the Mirai, being built in the factory. Mirais are built almost entirely by hand. Only 13 people work on Mirai production, partly because demand is building, and partly because Toyota wants maximum quality control.

Demand in Japan, where the Mirai can be ordered, is so strong that there is a three-year waiting list. Sales began in December of 2014 and in one month 1,500 orders had been placed. Because only three Mirais are made per day, filling those orders will take a while.

The Mirai will go on sale in the U.S. in late 2015. Toyota expects to price the Mirai about the same as a diesel sedan.

The interesting thing about these videos is the complete lack of music, voiceover, transition graphics, or really any production value. It’s like Toyota put a high-definition camera on a tripod and just recorded the workers doing ordinary work. For us, we find this calm approach reassuring as we try to understand this new technology.

One publication noted the irony in having the world’s most advanced cars built in the least advanced manner possible. No robotics. No lasers. No flash. Just highly-trained professionals exerting a quiet focus. For a car that in Japanese means “future,” we think this method advantageous.