Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched Toyota Mirai- India’s first green hydrogen based FCEV.

Why in news?

• Recently, the world’s most advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) powered by Hydrogen, Toyota Mirai, was launched in India by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in New Delhi, Delhi. It runs on fully hydrogen generated electricity.
• This launch is a pilot project taking place in Delhi by Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) and International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) to study and evaluate this FCEV on Indian roads and climatic conditions.
• This is also a first of its kind project in India aiming to create a Green Hydrogen based ecosystem by raising awareness about the utility of Green Hydrogen and FCEV technology.
• Green hydrogen can be generated from renewable energy and abundantly available biomass.
• FCEV is one of the best Zero Emission solutions.

About Toyota Mirai:

• Powered by a hydrogen fuel cell battery pack, it is capable of providing a range up to 650 km in a single charge, with a refuelling time of five minutes. The powertrain breaks the hydrogen into water and oxygen to generate energy from it. In Japanese, the word ‘Mirai’ means ‘future’.
• Toyota Mirai was launched in 2014 and was one of the world’s first hydrogen fuel EV.
• Now, this new launch in India is second generation (introduced globally in 2020), with a 30% increase in range, better handling and sharper styling. Its iteration will be built in TKM’s plant in Karnataka.
• The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) will be supplying Hydrogen for this vehicle.
• The launch of the EV, and adoption of green hydrogen technology will cater to India’s initiative of becoming ‘Energy Self-reliant’ by 2047 as it will promote clean energy, affordable energy and environmental protection by reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
• It is completely environment friendly with no tailpipe emissions other than water.