Toyota Mirai is coming to Chile! As we were told by Eduardo Madariaga, Head of New Business Development at Toyota.
3 units of the Toyota Mirai in Chile
We’ve learnt that 3 units are currently in Chile, including this one, on display at Hyvolution Chile. The vehicles, which arrived in November 2022, are still in the pilot phase and are not yet for sale. The aim is to replicate what Toyota has achieved in Europe. He reminded us that there are currently around 600 hydrogen-powered vehicles in France, including the Toyota Mirai. While some individuals, such as Olivier Savin, have already been driving a Toyota Mirai for several years, most of their journeys are back and forth between Paris and the airport. He also mentioned that there are around twenty units of the Mirai in Spain where they are used for mobility uses such as Cabify.
Toyota Mirai in Latin America
In Chile, Toyota is working with the Santiago airport to replicate what is being done in Paris. The company is also working with Tarpulin, which is part of the GL events Group, the organiser of this exhibition. Toyota hopes to sell around thirty units of the Mirai in Chile by 2025. A few units of the Mirai can also be seen in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. In Chile, one of the Toyota Mirai is currently being used by the Minister of Transport. The group’s ambition is to extend this offer to the President.
Zero emissions and (almost) zero noise
At the end of our discussion, we started noticing a light noise coming from the fuel cell (PEM* type). As it happens, it was on during the whole discussion. According to Eduardo, this is the maximum noise pollution you can expect from this vehicle. Which is nothing compared with the vehicle’s fossil fuel counterparts. However, he thinks this is an area for improvement. While 100% electric vehicles usually come with a small alarm at the front and producing a slight noise to warn pedestrians, this is not yet the case with the Mirai.
*PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane)
You can read one of our first articles on the Toyota Mirai here. If you want to find out more about this first edition of Hyvolution Chile then our latest 2 articles on the event should interest you. You can read them here and there.
