Europe will be a marginal market for the Toyota Mirai, at least in the beginning.
The Japanese automaker plans to ship about 50 to 100 units to Europe in 2016 and 2017, 90 percent of which will be destined for Germany and the UK. That’s insignificant compared to the 1,900 orders Toyota has received from the United States.
The two European countries were chosen because they are expanding their refueling infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles. The Mirai has a sticker price of €66,000 plus local taxes in Europe, but Toyota will initially only lease the car to customers.
“Mirai customers will not have to worry about the resale value or maintenance of their car because everything will be included in the monthly lease rate,” Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief engineer for the Mirai, was quoted as saying by Autonews Europe.
The lease will cost €1,200 a month in Germany and from £600 to £700 in the UK. Contracts will have a four-year duration and no down payment. Besides Germany and the UK, Denmark is another target market for the Mirai. The country has seven fuel cell stations and plans to add five more by year-end. The Mirai will be leased for €1,050 a month in Denmark. From early 2016 the Mirai will be also leased in Belgium.
The leasing rates in individual markets do not include possible government incentives for zero-emission vehicles.
Germany targets 50 stations by the year-end and 400 by 2023, while the UK aims to expand its network to 65 stations by 2020 from 15 at the year-end. In Germany, filling the Mirai’s 4.7-kg hydrogen tank costs below €45 ($51), as hydrogen is priced at €9.5 per kg. A full refill takes from 3 to 5 minutes.
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