Will The Toyota Mirai Be Hollywood’s Next “It” Car?

There are only 12 Hydrogen refueling stations in the United States so you better live by one.

Ready or not, Hydrogen powered cars are coming. According to Toyota’s official press release earlier today (July 13, 2015) Toyota will be opening their order books next week for its all-new 2016 Toyota Mirai, Toyota’s bid into the world of Hydrogen powered cars. The car touts the fact that it emits no gas byproducts that will pollute the environment and the only substance that comes from the tailpipe is pure water. With hydrogen refueling stations only located in South Carolina, Connecticut, San Francisco, Sacramento and peppered all over the Los Angeles area, you’d better live relatively close to any of those stations as the fuel range is only 312 miles.

There is one special demographic Toyota would love to have on the preorder list and that’s A-list Hollywood celebrities. First it was the Toyota Prius as Hollywood’s environmental car of choice. Jessica Alba, Natalie Portman and Jennifer Aniston all had one.When that got outplayed and oversaturated, Hollywood needed a new car. Enter the Tesla Model S. Fully electric, fast and fun to drive, celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Zoey Deschanel, Shakira and Will Smith all flocked to Tesla showrooms to secure orders. The Tesla Model S arguably still is Hollywood’s “It” car with plenty of supercharging stations all over California and home charging a possibility. It’s a very practical everyday car. But if you REALLY want to stand out above the bourgeois Tesla crowd, you can get yourself a Toyota Mirai.

At $57,500, the Toyota Mirai is a little over ten grand less than a Tesla Model S and has comparable range. No one else in Hollywood at the moment owns one so if you really want to be a socially responsible trailblazer and hop on the next biggest fuel fad, the Toyota Mirai might be your ticket. When you do put in your preorder, a representative from Toyota will contact you to make sure that you’re a good fit for the Mirai. Most likely if you don’t live near a refueling station, you can count yourself out.

But can’t you already see it? Papparazzi swarm a hydrogen refueling station with (insert your celebrity of choice here) attaching the H2 pressure nozzle to the refueling tanks on the Toyota Mirai. He or she says, “Oh, I love my Toyota Mirai. It gets an equivalent 67 MPG around town and takes minutes to refuel. I don’t have to wait twenty minutes for a recharge or whatever. Oh, and my dogs love licking the tailpipe (insert laughter) because water comes out the end. Can you imagine? (insert coy smile) Oh…it’s done refueling. Catch you later guys.” Wow, he’s/she’s so cool. God bless you Toyota Mirai.