Toyota is the official mobility partner of the upcoming Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Japanese manufacturer takes this mission seriously. Along with several other modes of transportation, for example, five hundred Mirai passenger cars were on display, but not everyone was impressed by the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
A group of 120 scientists, engineers and academics have sent an open letter to the organizers of the Pentathlon Games, urging them to ditch the Miraiks because hydrogen propulsion does not meet sustainability goals. They argue that while domestic emissions are truly zero, 96% of the world’s total hydrogen production currently comes from fossil fuels such as methane.
Although according to the official position, the MiraiX planes that will participate in the Olympics will be powered by hydrogen produced from water and other environmentally friendly sources, according to the signatories of the petition, promoting the model in such a framework is not a good idea. They say that future buyers will most likely use less clean fuel for their cars. They urge Toyota to send purely electric models instead of these cars – in any case, they have already been offered for Olympic purposes.
The Games organizers are making no secret of the fact that they want to stage the greenest Olympics ever. Toyota defended the Mirai in a statement, saying it believes in the future of hydrogen propulsion and that clean driving must also be diverse, as reflected in its global strategy.