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Toyota's Mirai fuel cell car gets its own special showroom

If the car's unique, the showroom better be as well. That's the approach Toyota is taking with the Mirai, its first production hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle. In fact, the model is getting its own special showroom starting this Friday. The Japanese automaker is opening the showroom in Tokyo. The facility takes up two floors totaling about 1,800 square feet and, from the pictures, it looks to have a very Zen-like quality. Toyota will be displaying one Mirai vehicle and will have another vehicle available for public test drives available every Friday. Toyota started selling the Mirai in Japan late last year and has announced plans to debut the car in the US – starting in California – this fall at a base price of $57,500, or a lease option of $499 a month for 36 months ($3,649 is due at signing). Earlier this year, Toyota said it was going to bump production to 2,000 vehicles next year (and 3,000 in 2017) from 700 units this year. With such a ramp-up in store, Toyota will spend about $170 million increasing production capacity of the fuel-cell vehicle. That total probably doesn't take into account the stylish new Tokyo showroom. Related Videos: New Toyota Mirai Showroom in Downtown Tokyo Offers a Glimpse of the Future Tokyo, Japan, April 13, 2015-On Friday, Toyota will open a showroom to highlight the groundbreaking Mirai fuel cell vehicle, which went on sale last December. Located within a hydrogen station operated by Iwatani Corporation in Tokyo's Minato Ward, the space will serve as a hub for sharing information on fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen, with the aim of promoting a hydrogen-based society. In addition to having one Mirai on display and another for test drives, the showroom will use videos and other media to raise awareness about the features of the vehicle, the benefits of hydrogen and more. Overview of the Toyota Mirai Showroom Location 4-6-15 Shiba-Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo Opening April 17, 2015 Floor area 1st floor84 m2; 2nd floor81 m2 Hours 9:00-17:00 Closed Tuesday (The Iwatani hydrogen station is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) Display vehicles 1 Test ride vehicles 1 (available to public on Fridays only) Website http://toyota.jp/mirai/showroom/ (Japanese only)

2014 Toyota Tundra Platinum 4x4

The Toyota Tundra is the automotive version of off-brand Cheerios: it doesn't dominate the market, and it's not the first model people think of when they hear the term "pickup truck."
Ford, General Motors and Ram dominate the segment with vehicles that offer ridiculous levels of towing and payload capacities and models loaded with luxury items and primed with tech-rich engines. The off-brands, meanwhile, are led by the Tundra, which while still accounting for six-figure sales (112,732 units in 2013, up from 101,621 in 2012), sits well behind the F-150s and Silverados of the world. After our first drive of the revamped 2014 Tundra, we came away thinking this truck is a total underachiever, aimed at placating Toyota loyalists and doing little to win over new customers.
But everybody deserves a second chance, and we thought a week's drive in a different environment might lead to a different - or at least a more fully realized - opinion. While the Tundra might not be an industry leader, it still makes it on many truck buyers' shopping lists. So, should you consider this off-brand pickup truck? To find out, we borrowed a top-of-the-line Tundra Platinum for a week. Read on to see what we found.

Hydrogen stations that don't work putting a dent in H2 lifestyle

Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe, but it's not abundant enough for some hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle drivers. Southern California lessees of models such as the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell SUV are taking to Facebook to voice their complaints about out-of-order fuel cell stations, Green Car Reports says. In many cases, the lack of hydrogen supply has made the cars effectively undriveable. For Tucson Fuel Cell owners, the hydrogen is supposed to be free and unlimited, but Hyundai doesn't manage the stations. One Orange County lessee of a Tucson fuel-cell vehicle hasn't driven the car for over a month because the trio of nearby stations are out of commission. Additionally, some of the stations that do work can only provide about a half-tank worth of hydrogen, once again putting a crimp the driving range of the hydrogen car. California is home to 10 of the dozen public hydrogen refueling stations in the country (there's one each in Connecticut and South Carolina), according to US Department of Energy figures. These sorts of challenges can't help Hyundai's hydrogen efforts. Last month, it was reported that Hyundai has sold fewer than 300 fuel cell vehicles worldwide during the past three years, including about 70 through the first five months of this year. The South Korea-based automaker has said it wants to sell 1,000 fuel-cell vehicles globally by the end of 2015. Fuel-cell drivers and advocates alike are hoping that Toyota will change the game when its Mirai hydrogen vehicles start hitting California roads later this year. Toyota confirmed in May that Mirai US sales would start in October in eight California dealerships. The Northeast is on tap for 2016. Related Video: