Weeks after launching the first hydrogen station in the UAE as part of a pilot of Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) in the emirates, Al-Futtaim Motors has used the 2017 Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) in Dubai to put the vehicle on display.
Converting hydrogen into electricity inside its fuel cell stack, the Mirai delivers a performance that competes with traditional petrol engine cars while emitting only water vapour from the tailpipe.
With its low maintenance electric motor, the vehicle is able to travel up to 500km on a full tank, which can then be refilled in under five minutes.
Read more: Video: Toyota Mirai refuels at first UAE hydrogen station
“Unlike battery-powered cars, FCEVs can run for long mileage and can be refilled fairly quickly, in a way that does not compromise the driver’s behaviour in any way,” said Saud Abbasi, MD for Toyota at Al-Futtaim Motors.
“Once deployed on a larger scale, the fuel cell electric technology has the potential to significantly reduce the UAE’s dependence on oil and dramatically lower car-generated pollution levels.”
Al-Futtaim Motors began testing the Mirai in the UAE in January 2017 as part of a collaborative study with Toyota announced by the auto maker’s chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2017 that same month.
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The study will assess the feasibility of establishing a hydrogen-based society in the UAE, with the stated mission of drastically lowering CO2 emissions, in line with the UAE Vision 2021.
Early in October 2017, Al-Futtaim Motors jointly inaugurated the UAE’s first hydrogen station in Dubai Festival City weeks ago in collaboration with France’s Air Liquide and Toyota.
