Mirai, Toyota's fuel cell saloon that emits only water vapour, covered 2,300 kilometres in 24 hours. Meanwhile, within days Italy is expected to approve an increase in hydrogen refuelling station pressure from 350 to 700 bar.
Two thousand three hundred kilometres covered in 24 hours with zero emissions produced. This is the new Guinness World Record set by the Toyota Mirai, the fuel cell saloon from the Japanese carmaker. Setting off from Long Beach in California with Reno, Nevada as the destination, the route was not a straight line but was mapped out according to hydrogen refuelling stations, taking in both urban and out-of-town stretches as well as mountain roads at altitudes of up to 2,200 metres.
The initiative was promoted last September by True Zero, an American hydrogen station company that is already submitting documentation for official recognition of the record (the previous one stood at 2,142 kilometres). True Zero also owns six of the stations where the Mirai refuelled along the route, while the seventh belongs to Linde, which opened the world's first hydrogen car-sharing service, BeeZero. With a refuelling time of three to five minutes at most and a declared range of 550 kilometres, Toyota's hydrogen car has nothing to envy a conventional car — indeed it has the fundamental advantage of being non-polluting, as it emits only water vapour. Launched in the United States, Japan and several European countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Denmark, the main obstacle the Mirai faces is the lack of adequate and widespread refuelling points. 
In the Toyota Mirai, hydrogen is stored beneath the floor at a pressure of 700 bar
On 18 November, approval is expected for the regulation that will allow the pressure for hydrogen dispensers to be raised from 350 to 700 bar, thereby enabling the opening of refuelling stations capable of serving the latest generation of fuel cell vehicles with a range of 400–500 kilometres and a refuelling time comparable to that of a petrol or diesel car. The legislative decree transposing EU directive 2014/94/EU recognises hydrogen as an alternative fuel and sets the end of 2025 as the deadline for creating an adequate network of service stations. Toyota, through its chief executive Andrea Carlucci, has already expressed its willingness to help build the necessary infrastructure to make it possible for the Mirai to circulate in Italy as well, starting from 2017.
