The Natural History Museum (NHM) has become the latest in a series of distinguished UK academic and research organisations to explore the low carbon transport potential of Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell technology by taking delivery of a new Mirai saloon.
It was acquired with support from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, Hydrogen Mobility Europe and the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. This follows vehicles recently delivered to University College London and Imperial College London.
We will be decreasing the museum’s carbon emissions and helping us move towards a future where people and planet thrive together
The Mirai will be used on regular business journeys around the capital when taking public transport is not possible, such as when moving fragile specimens. It will also be used for shuttle trips between the museum sites in South Kensington and Tring, Hertfordshire. In addition, the NHM will use the Mirai as a case study to ascertain the viability of transferring all its vehicles to hydrogen.
Wayne Hitchings, head of sustainability for the NHM, said: “We are always looking for opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment. With water being the only emission from this hydrogen-powered car, we will be decreasing the museum’s carbon emissions and helping us move towards a future where people and planet thrive together.”
The Toyota Mirai is powered by electricity generated on-board by a fuel cell stack through the process of combining hydrogen with oxygen. On a full tank of fuel it can cover around 300 miles, with smooth, near-silent running and no emissions other than pure water. The technology has proved its reliability and usefulness with hundreds of thousands of miles covered in the UK by cars in daily use with private hire companies, public bodies and private businesses.
Source: TOYOTA
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