2022 Toyota Mirai Gains Hands-Free Teammate Semi-Autonomous Driving System

The Toyota Mirai is a technological showcase and that’s especially true for 2022 as the hydrogen-powered flagship is now available with Teammate driver assistance technology.

Available exclusively on the $66,000 Mirai Limited, the Teammate system has two functions known as Advanced Drive and Advanced Park. Advanced Park come standard on the Limited and it allows for hands-free parking as the vehicle steers, accelerates, brakes, and changes gears itself.

Advanced Drive, on the other hand, is a $5,170 option that allows for hands-free driving on the highway under certain conditions. Toyota says the Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system can “plan and execute acceleration, braking and steering commands under active supervision of the driver.” The company added it can also “maintain the vehicle within the lane, follow other vehicles, change lanes, navigate certain interchanges and traffic jams, and overtake slower vehicles.”

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That’s a bit vague, but we tested a Lexus LS 500h prototype with Teammate last year. That model was equipped with a forward-facing LiDAR, front-facing long-range radar, front- and rear-side short-range radar as well as a number of different cameras. They gave the vehicle a 360° view of its surroundings and this information was processed by four electronic control units, which enabled the LS to recognize other vehicles and make decisions about what to do.

Aiding things were high definition maps that were used to pinpoint the car’s location. More precise than GPS data, the maps enabled the model to know exactly which lane it was in.

After merging onto a compatible highway and setting the adaptive cruise control, the system displayed a message saying “Advanced Drive Ready.” You could then activate hands-free driving, which worked fairly well during our test drive.

Getting back to the 2022 Mirai, the model starts at $49,500 and features a 1.24 kWh lithium-ion battery as well as three carbon-fiber reinforced hydrogen storage tanks that feed a fuel cell. The latter causes a chemical reaction when hydrogen is combined with oxygen from the air. This reaction creates electricity with water being the only emission.

The electricity is used to power a rear-mounted electric motor that develops 182 hp (134 kW / 185 PS) and 221 lb-ft (300 Nm) of torque. This enables the car to accelerate from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 9.2 seconds and travel up to 402 miles (647 km) between fill ups.