The totally new 2021 Toyota Mirai fuel-cell vehicle is over $9,000 cheaper than the old Mirai.

The Mirai XLE (base model) will start at $50,455, including the $955 destination charge. If you want the Limited with every option in the book, that'll cost $66,955. One of the premium paint options will add another $425 to either trim. Optional chrome 20-inch wheels are available on the Platinum for an additional $1,120. And the XLE has a Technology Package that adds a 360-degree bird's eye camera, front and rear parking assist w/automated braking and footwell illumination for $1,410.

TOKYO — Japan's Toyota Motor Corp put its revamped Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, with 30% greater range, on sale Wednesday in a fresh push to promote the zero-emission technology amid rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles, including its own.

Toyota has failed until now to win drivers over to fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which remain a niche technology despite Japanese government backing, amid concerns about a lack of fueling stations, resale values and the risk of hydrogen explosions.

A government survey has found that more than 80 percent of facilities that received subsidies to build hydrogen filling stations across Japan were actually ineligible for them.

The subsidies were being offered as part of a project by the Environment Ministry for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The organizers of the Games have been promoting a carbon-neutral "hydrogen society," hoping to make it an Olympic legacy.

In early 2019, Toyota joined forces with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to develop a six-wheeled rover capable of transporting two astronauts and their gear on the moon. Development work is ongoing, the process is expected to take nearly a decade, but the partners have already agreed on a name.

It's an off-roader, albeit not one Toyota is used to developing, so it earned the name Lunar Cruiser. The Japanese firm explained it chose that name because the vehicle's basic mission is the same as the original Land Cruiser's: to bring its passengers home alive. FJ Cruiser-like trim on the front end creates another link to Toyota's SUVs.

On June 21, 2016 Honda applied with to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the terms "Hydronaut" and "Hydrogenaut." Assuming success, both terms were to be applied to an endeavor "Providing technological and scientific information about fuel cell vehicles; Providing a website featuring technological and scientific information about fuel cell vehicles." After being published for opposition, both applications were left to die, their abandonment dates listed as January 20, 2020. CarBuzz discovered that two days later, January 22, Honda re-applied with the U.S. PTO to trademark the same two terms for the same service. It's possible the Japanese automaker will sit on them again, to no apparent purpose. Nevertheless, someone inside the company has the aim of one day spreading the hydrogen gospel. The alternative fuel could certainly use converts. Mercedes-Benz and BMW have trotted out the occasional fuel-cell electric vehicle over the past decade or so, but the Japanese and South Korean automakers have been especially vocal about getting FCEVs mainstream. Toyota copied the Prius playbook for the Mirai, sinking noteworthy sums of money into an ungainly first generation to get early-adopter butts in seats, then rolling out a svelte second generation gunning for mainstream appeal. We saw how that turned out with the Prius. The problem with the much more handsome Mirai is that even in California, only fringe greenies are lured by the siren song of hydrogen at the moment. Until the infrastructure expands enough to achieve regular contact with the average driver, and permit travel outside of narrow corridors, that situation won't change quickly. Therefore, Honda could do itself an enormous favor with a splashy online education effort, likewise a favor for every other hydrogen-invested automaker and the dim prospect of the so-called hydrogen highway getting filled out in our lifetimes. BMW might want to lend Honda a coding hand, in fact, the German automaker restating its commitment to hydrogen in an interview with The Telegraph. Dr. Jürgen Guldner, the automaker's VP for fuel cell projects, told the UK newspaper, "We see fuel cells helping us to convert all our cars to zero emissions over the next two decades," and, "We don't see it as competition for the battery electric vehicle, but as a further offer to our customers." BMW intends to release a fleet of third-generation FCEVs based on the X5 by the end of 2022, Guldner saying that price parity between hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and traditional ICE vehicles could be achieved as soon as 2025. Related Video:

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics say hydrogen fuel will be used for parts of the torch relay in an effort to promote clean energy and raise awareness of environmental issues.

The torch relay is scheduled to start on March 26 at the J-Village soccer stadium in Fukushima Prefecture. The complex was an operational base for decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TOKYO — Japan's Honda and Isuzu on Wednesday said they would jointly research the use of hydrogen fuel cells to power heavy-duty trucks, looking to expand fuel cell use by applying the zero-emission technology to larger vehicles. As part of a two-year deal, Isuzu will test Honda's fuel cell powertrain, which was designed for passenger cars, in Isuzu's commercial trucks, the companies said, which could pave the way for using the technology in a wider range of vehicles. Automakers are looking to develop more electric vehicles (EVs) to comply with tightening global emissions regulations. Many see battery-powered EVs as a solution for passenger cars in urban settings, but a growing number see hydrogen fuel cells as an effective way to power trucks, buses and other big vehicles. "Although we have done extensive R&D into passenger FCVs (fuel cell vehicles), we have not been able to study how best to apply the technology to commercial vehicles," a Honda spokesman told reporters at a briefing. "This partnership will allow us to do that." Fuel cell vehicles generate their own electricity using hydrogen stored in onboard tanks. This enables them to travel longer distances and refuel more quickly than battery EVs, while using less costly energy storage systems. "We think that FCV technology is well suited for heavier trucks which travel longer distances, and this partnership will enable us to examine this further," an Isuzu spokeswoman said, adding that the truck maker was also developing various lower-carbon powertrains including battery-electric technology for shorter-distance vehicles. With its Clarity Fuel Cell sedan, Honda is one of a handful of automakers which have developed and marketed fuel cell-powered passenger cars. Light- and medium-sized truck specialist Isuzu has for years has focused on diesel engine technology and has yet to market fully electric vehicles. But a price tag starting around $70,000 for the Clarity and scant hydrogen fueling infrastructure globally, Honda has seen limited take-up of that model and other FCVs since they began marketing them around 2015. In 2018 Honda sold just 654 Clarity FCVs, which are available only in Japan and the United States through leasing programs, compared with Honda's total annual global sales of 5.23 million cars. The partnership is the latest in a growing trend among vehicle makers joining forces to better compete in an industry upended by the rise of electric vehicles, self-driving cars and other new technologies. Honda and Isuzu are reviving their vehicle partnership following an agreement in the early 1990s under which Isuzu manufactured sport utility vehicles for Honda in the North American market.

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games say hydrogen will be used to light the Olympic flame cauldron.

Tokyo Games' organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto unveiled the plan on Friday at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.