Will this be the least mature automotive coverage you read all week? Very likely. In any event, we currently have a 2021 Toyota Mirai in for evaluation, and it is a completely serious electric vehicle powered by a high-tech onboard hydrogen fuel cell. This tech uses hydrogen as a fuel to generate electricity by a chemical process, thereby emitting only H2O—water—as a byproduct. On the Mirai, that water is ejected beneath the car via a little spigot that the driver can control using a button on the dashboard. Push the button, and the Mirai evacuates its water. Our immature side took things from there.
Look, it’s not often you can describe something like a car as “peeing,” but when those opportunities arise they cannot be wasted—water expelling pun intended. The Mirai’s wastewater, therefore, is incredibly funny. Here’s a peek at the process, as captured by MotorTrend photographer Brandon Lim.
Toyota handles the water evacuation from the Mirai in two ways. First, and most visible, there is the button on the dashboard. Press it, and whatever water the Mirai’s built up to that point will dribble out under the car. Fail to do so, and the car will empty its bladder for you, automatically. How often does that happen? Well, per Toyota, the Mirai generates about one cup of water per mile. This amount can go up or down based on how hard you drive the car. Given how there is no storage tank for the water, the system’s “capacity,” such as it is, amounts to the liter or so of water in the outlet system piping; pressing the button to evacuate that water merely results in a more “thorough” flushing.
One obvious question you all may have is whether or not this water is drinkable. Technically, sure, it’s certainly “potable.” Do we recommend sipping it? Not really, if only because it’s emitted from a hole underneath the Mirai—an area that’s hardly “clean” most of the time. The previous-generation Mirai also emitted water, and people also asked about drinking it. Same answers apply.
The really good news—for Toyota, at least—is that we’re reaching for funny things to say about the all-new second-generation Mirai. It is an attractive, svelte, and compelling alternative-fuel vehicle. In other words, it’s the complete opposite of its predecessor, which looked like something emitted by a hydrogen fuel cell. This is assuming you asked any layperson to guess the byproduct released by a hydrogen fuel cell. You, dear reader, now know that only water is emitted.
