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Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell coming to US Northeast in 2016

Looks like someone was able to read the future back in July. That's when rumors first circulated that Toyota's upcoming fuel cell vehicle will be called the Mirai. Today, Toyota president Akio Toyoda confirmed the name alongside plans to build out a hydrogen refueling infrastructure in the US Northeast.
In Japanese, mirai (??) means "future," which is a fitting name for a car that Toyota believes represents the direction the auto industry will go in the coming years. In a promotional video announcing the name, Toyoda said, "For [Toyota], this isn't just another car. This is an opportunity - an opportunity to really make a difference. And making a difference is what Toyota is all about."
To help that future come into existence, Toyota CEO Jim Lentz also disclosed the vague outline of a fuel cell infrastructure investment that Toyota and partner Air Liquide will make in a five-state Northeastern corridor that consists of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. The Mirai will be available there in 2015 and Toyota is going to build 12 stations in and around New York and Boston to support the launch. More details will be available later.

Toyota says no one wants a Toyota electric car

It's no secret that Toyota doesn't really have a heart in pushing pure electric vehicles. The very limited Scion iQ EV project was killed before it went very far and the RAV4 EV project with Tesla was always only meant to produce just 2,600 units, but it didn't even get that far. In short, by all public appearances, Toyota just doesn't see the value of a pure EV. "No one is coming to our door asking us to build a new electric car." – Toyota's Craig Scott Toyota's public reasoning for the lack of a Prius C EV, for example, has often been that customers don't want to compromise on range and that hydrogen is a better bet. Company executives like Bob Carter say so over and over again. A new comment by Craig Scott, Toyota's national manager of advanced technologies, says that the Japanese automaker, give a slightly different spin on things. "Toyota actually favors fuel cells over other zero-emission vehicles, like pure battery electric vehicles," he told the Los Angeles Times. "We would like to be still selling cars when there's no more gas. And no one is coming to our door asking us to build a new electric car." This, understandably, has riled up a lot of EV supporters, many of whom have called on all automakers to sell more electric vehicles. After all, if Nissan can sell around 3,000 EVs a month in the US, couldn't Toyota do something similar? Are there thousands of people coming to the door asking for the fuel cell sedan that Toyota will start selling in the US next year? That answer is unclear, but it certainly doesn't look like Toyota is backing off its H2 bet any time soon.

Evo pits Toyota GT86 vs. Mazda MX-5 Miata

The latest Deadly Rivals episode from Evo gets the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GT86 (our Scion FR-S) on track for a shakedown and a whole lot of drifting with Dan Prosser behind the wheel. The UK-spec coupes have slightly different power ratings than ours, but it's all close enough to be comparable. Their Miata has 158 horsepower (ours has 155), 148 pound-feet of torque, takes 7.3 seconds to run from naught to 60 62, and costs 22,695 pounds. The GT86, on the other hand, lists a 7.6-second dash to 60 62, and a base price of 25,000 pounds. The GT86 also weighs 400 pounds more than the Mazda. That's true in the States, too – curb weight for our MX-5 is 2,332 pounds, whereas the Scion FR-S comes in at 2,758 pounds. Both cars lauded for excellent shifting, but one of them has a better front end, a sweeter engine note, more controllable cornering behavior, and is faster by a tenth of a second around the test track. And Prosser doesn't mention it, but one has a lot more body roll. But it takes more than all that to make a winner, so check out the video above to see which is which. News Source: Evo via YouTube Mazda Scion Toyota Convertible Coupe Performance Videos toyota gt86 evo