Toyota’s Mirai hydrogen fuel cell sedan is an electric car few have heard of, despite the automaker’s insistence that it is Toyota’s design and technology flagship. That’s because the first-generation Mirai, an odd-looking machine with lackluster performance and handling, was available only in California and, for a time, Hawaii. Just 6,600 were sold or leased–mostly leased–in the U.S. from 2016 through 2020.

The second-generation 2021 Mirai, a completely redesigned and reengineered vehicle that shares its platform with Lexus’ flagship LS, could change things. It is a much better car than the original, but it too is California-only thanks to the continued paucity of hydrogen filling stations.

The 2021 Mirai carries the flag for Toyota technology and styling, but few people will ever see one in the wild because it is sold only in California and can’t drive much beyond the state’s borders. There’s almost no hydrogen fuel to be had elsewhere.  Toyota

Style-wise, the formerly frumpy Mirai is now a swan. Performance has improved and it is loaded with creature comforts, high-end infotainment content and up-to-date advanced safety and driver assistance technologies. Comparing its Lexus-like handling and ride quality to its Prius-based predecessor’s is like comparing Ravel’s “Bolero” to “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Fuel cell cars are electric cars, but instead of using batteries, they make electricity on the go by pushing hydrogen gas through a catalyst that strips electrons from the hydrogen molecules. A hydrogen fill-up takes about 5 minutes and can be good for more than 300 miles, so there’s little range anxiety. The catch is that the “hydrogen highway” Toyota and other fuel cell proponents have long promoted exists mostly in California, where 45 of the nation’s 47 public hydrogen stations are located.

Because there is so little market for it at present, the cost of hydrogen fuel is high–about $16 per gallon. To offset the shock of $90 fill-ups, every Mirai comes with $15,000 worth of free fuel from Toyota. To sweeten the package further, the automaker gave the new Mirai two trim levels, XLE and Limited, and lowered the price of entry to $50,525 including a $1,025 destination fee. That’s down $9,050 from the previous one-trim-only Mirai.

With three hydrogen tanks holding a total of 5.4 kilograms of fuel, the Mirai can deliver up to 402 miles of range; 30% more than its predecessor. That’s the equivalent of a gasoline car getting 74 mpg and is more range than other fuel cell vehicles or competitively priced EVs. Toyota

Incentives can lower the total cost of any fuel cell car by up to $12,500, with a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for purchasers and a California rebate of $4,500 for buyers and lessees.

That pricing, along with the free fuel and improved looks and performance, makes the 2021 Mirai a highly competitive vehicle in what is, admittedly, a pretty small segment. There are only two other fuel cell vehicles in the market. The Hyundai Nexo crossover starts at $60,120. Honda’s Clarity Fuel Cell sedan is available only on a three-year lease but would start at $59,485 if Honda sold it. Both the Clarity and the Nexo boast 380 miles of range, while the EPA rates the Mirai at 402 miles.

The Nexo gets the same incentives as the Mirai, including the free fuel, and the Clarity gets all but the $8,000 tax credit, which isn’t available for leased vehicles. To make up for that, Honda bakes a discount into the Clarity’s $379 monthly lease price. The Nexo also starts at $379 a month while leases for the Mirai start at $449.

Most fuel cell shoppers aren’t looking for anything else, but for those who’d also consider a battery-electric the most logical competitor is the Tesla Model 3 Long Range, with its 353 miles of EPA-declared range. It starts at $51,190 but no longer qualifies for a federal tax credit and gets only a $2,000 state rebate.  

A 12.3-inch infotainment screen dominates a sleek, modern and almost leather-free interior, save for the steering wheel, in the new Mirai. Toyota

The “base” Mirai XLE is, by most standards, plush. The cabin is full of faux leather and soft-touch interior surfaces trimmed in copper or polished stainless and lots of niceties are standard. That includes heated and fully adjustable front seats, a high-end audio system with navigation and a vast 12.3-inch touchscreen, 19-inch rims and Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.5+ suite of advanced safety and driver assistance tech.

That includes forward automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane departure warning and lane keeping, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts and automatic high beams. An advanced-tech package that adds a bird’s-eye-view camera and front and rear parking assist with automated braking adds $1,410 to the tab. The car hasn’t yet been tested by IIHS or NHTSA.

The Limited trim, at $66,995, has all of that and ups the posh level with features such as a panoramic glass roof, ventilated front seats, a color head-up display, a three-zone climate control, a power rear window shade and Toyota’s automated parallel and perpendicular parking system.

 If the new Mirai’s interior lets down anywhere, it’s the rear seating area, which has limited legroom overall and only a narrow center seating position that’s rendered nearly useless by the large center tunnel (a fuel tank lurks below).  Toyota

On the road, the new Mirai acts like the well-balanced electric car it is: Quiet, quick off the line and nimble on corners and twisty roads. There are three driving modes, a stodgy Eco that slows down accelerator pedal response and limits air conditioner performance, a hum-drum Normal for everyday driving and Sport, which tightens the steering and quickens accelerator response substantially improving the driving experience.

While the 2021 Mirai isn’t any quicker off the line than the old model, its 182-horsepower electric motor and 221pound-feet of torque give it better high-speed acceleration to make passing much easier. It’s also more powerful than its fuel cell competitors.

Inside, the Mirai is roomy up front, with 42.2 inches of legroom tying the Honda Clarity and being slightly more generous than the Nexo. 

The rear is only adequate for two. There’s a middle seat in the second row, allowing Toyota to claim it as a 5-passenger model, but it is quite narrow and offers almost no leg pace because of a high center tunnel that’s covering one of the Mirai’s fuel tanks. Rear legroom can be cramped for tall passengers and is substantially less than offered by the others–33.1 inches versus the four-passenger Clarity’s 36.7 and the five-passenger Nexo’s 38.6. The Mirai’s gracefully arching roofline doesn’t compromise headroom, happily.

 In Tesla-like fashion, many of the new Mirai’s controls are routed through the touchscreen, though there are redundant physical climate controls. It’s a bright and modern-looking interface that compliments the interior. Toyota

The Mirai really falls flat in a cargo space comparison. Its tiny 9.6 cubic foot trunk is dwarfed even by the Honda’s, which is nothing to brag about at 11.8 cubic feet (those hydrogen fuel tanks eat up a lot of space). The SUV-styled Nexo is the clear segment winner at 29.6 cubic feet of cargo area.

With wider distribution, the 2021 Mirai could be an ambassador for Toyota and for fuel cell technology. It’s especially appealing to near-luxury shoppers looking to make a bold “green” statement or just cut their dependence on gas stations and EV charging cords. Its California-only nature, however, means only 1,600 new Mirais were sold or leased in the first half of 2021, according to Motor Intelligence data. For now, it remains a rare treat.