Here’s Why Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Will Never Replace Traditional EVs

The Toyota Mirai is rolling proof that hydrogen fuel cell technology can be bundled up to work in a beautiful, desirable automotive package, like an electric car that gets quickly refuelled instead of slowly recharged. The problem is that as impressive and environmentally-sound as this technology appears to be, its infrastructure – or rather, the lack thereof – makes it unlikely to ever be a viable alternative to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). 

How Do Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work?

Fuel cells generate electricity through the wonders of chemistry. At its simplest, the fuel cells are comprised of each a negative anode and positive cathode, where hydrogen is fed into the anode and they’re divided into protons and electrons. 

The positively charged protons pass through a membrane, allowing negatively charged electrons to route through a circuit and generate electricity. Meeting again at the cathode, the protons and electrons are fed oxygen, resulting in heat and water as the only emissions for the electric energy production.

But each cell can only hold a modest amount of energy, so in the Mirai, there’s a stack of fuel cells, plus a high-pressure tank to contain the hydrogen gas. Unlike a typical EV, there’s no massive battery pack that fills the floor of the car, instead, a smaller battery more closely resembles the setup of one of Toyota’s hybrid cars to contain some reserved energy. A Power Control Unit under the hood determines when to draw energy from the fuel cell stack or the battery pack and fuel cells if extra oomph is called for. 

In either case, the energy is sent to a small electric motor that powers the rear wheels.

What’s It Like to Drive?

With a modest 182 hp on tap to motivate more than 1,900 kg, the Mirai is not a quick car by any stretch. And yet, when cruising around town for commuting and errand-running duties, the immediacy of its 221 lb-ft of torque never makes it feel gutless or out of breath. 

Like other electrified machines, it wafts along smoothly, and despite some odd, occasional ticking from the hydrogen fuel pump, is sublimely isolating, keeping wind and road noise as hushed as the most decadent premium sedans. 

In fact, other than the somewhat grabby brakes, the Mirai feels like a very expensive, very refined luxury machine, yet keeps its composure when driven briskly on the winding hilly roads just outside Vancouver. 

The Mirai is a sizable car, bigger than a Camry, and with a wheelbase nearly as expansive as the three-row Grand Highlander. It has presence with a long, low, and wide appearance that would suit a Lexus badge perhaps better than its Toyota branding; unsurprising since it shares a basic platform architecture with the Lexus LS flagship sedan. The Hydro Blue paint on the test car is possibly the nicest paint I’ve seen on any car this side of a Rolls-Royce, and even under gloomy skies, it was radiant.

Despite its size, however, the Mirai is not spacious inside. Front headroom and legroom are generous, but the rear seat is considerably compromised by a massive central tunnel that houses one of the Mirai’s three hydrogen tanks. The cargo capacity is barely more than half that of a Camry, thanks to the battery pack nestled between the trunk and the rear seat. 

Finishes throughout the interior are synthetic, but feel premium, with extensive soft-touch panels. Toyota’s contemporary infotainment system works well, offers crisp graphics and a standard 14-speaker JBL sound system. Inside and out, the fitment and assembly of the Japanese-built Mirai are expectedly top notch. 

Is It Really Better for the Environment?

The obvious upside to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is their emissions being nothing more than water, plus, with its oxygen intake, the Mirai actually purifies the air as it drives. The downside, however, is that synthesizing hydrogen in the first place requires energy to separate it from its carbon atoms, typically with methane. This is often done through a steam reforming process that requires incredible heat to achieve, with petroleum refineries usually using natural gas, although some sources are at least utilizing natural gas captured from landfill sites. 

While there are other ways to collect hydrogen, such as using microbes like microalgae and bacteria to create biochemical reactions, the reality is that most fuel cell energy requires a fair bit of hydrocarbon burning to achieve.

Real-World Problems

Beyond the environmental considerations and packaging challenges of fitting multiple hydrogen fuel tanks within a car, the greatest concern remains the fuelling process itself. At the time of writing, Canadians have access to well over 33,000 public EV charging ports across the country (plus countless home chargers). Despite that, the lack of viable charging infrastructure is often one of the biggest obstacles that would-be EV buyers face.

For fuel cell EV buyers, the infrastructure challenges are extreme. In all of Canada, there are fewer than 10 public hydrogen filling stations. One of them is located in Quebec City, the rest are in southern British Columbia, mostly centralized around Vancouver, and there’s no promise of more coming anytime soon. Even with Toyota’s impressive claimed range of 647 km for the Mirai, it can’t be more than an around-town vehicle. Occasional road trips will need to be carefully calculated with return-trip fuel on board and plenty of buffer zone built in since our test drive experience suggests Toyota’s stated estimates are optimistic compared to the 447 km indicated range after refuelling, despite the mild weather.

Part of the challenge is pumping a substance in a highly-pressurized state, which means temperature (among other variables) can affect when the refuelling pump shuts off, believing the tank is full, even when it’s not. Worse still, because there are still so few hydrogen fuel cells around (Hyundai also offers the Nexo, while Honda’s new CR-V fuel cell is earmarked only for California), production of hydrogen fuel is also limited. This means, at times, the fuelling stations run low, forcing motorists to flock to one of the few alternative locations. During our test week in the Vancouver area, of the five local filling spots, one had low volume, while another station was offline altogether. Hydrogen rationing is also known to happen when supplies are low, so counting on a full tank whenever one is needed may not always be realistic. 

In theory, a fuel cell vehicle can be refuelled in five to 10 minutes, similar to topping up with gas or diesel. In practice, we’ve seen in California how long queues for functioning pumps can form, causing serious delays, worsened by variances in the way the pumps function that can freeze the hose nozzle directly to the car as the super-chilled hydrogen flows through. When this happens, it can require a lengthy thaw before detaching. 

The high-pressure pumping process can pose dangers, too, as we heard from a first-hand testimonial from a fellow fuel cell motorist who had not properly affixed the filling nozzle to the car, and it blew off violently, smashing against the pump and rendering the whole thing useless. 

Anticipating the worst, our experience refilling the test car at a Vancouver Shell station proved to be trouble-free and delivered a refill that was no trickier or time-consuming than filling up a gas-powered car. The pump itself even offered an instructional video for first-time users.

The Costs

In 2025, the Mirai is available only in XLE trim, which means luxuries like a panoramic moonroof, cooled seats, and advanced parking assistance that used to be available on the much pricier Limited trim are no more. Even still, with an MSRP of $54,330, the Mirai looks like a much more expensive car than it is. That it contains such impressive technology makes it a veritable bargain – especially if the governmental EV rebates ever return. Still, while charging an EV’s battery pack can help a buyer realize significant savings (especially when using a home charger during off-peak hours), the cost of hydrogen fuel is not much of a savings versus the current rate for gasoline. At a rate of $1.47 per 100 grams, our $37 netted us roughly half a tank of hydrogen fuel after a few hundred kilometres of driving.

Final Thoughts

The Mirai offers as much appeal for its handsome styling as it does for the novelty of its technology. Its exclusivity is kind of neat, too with Toyota having sold only 29 units last year. Fuel cell cars like the Mirai are simply faced with too many obstacles to practical ownership, from modest performance, to compromised interior space, and no appreciable energy cost savings. More damning is the questionable environmental benefit of hydrogen generation, but it’s the utter lack of infrastructure that means fuel cell cars like the Mirai have no hope of overthrowing battery electric vehicles.