The definitive name of the first mass-production hydrogen car will be revealed by Toyota at the time of its commercial launch, before the summer of 2015. The dates and schedule have been confirmed by Toyota's US spokesperson, Danny Chen. In the meantime, as Bloomberg News has discovered, the name 'Mirai' has been registered in the United States. The vehicle, known until now as the FCV, will go on sale in Japan from April 2015. Initially, the car will be delivered to local bodies and organisations, and is subsequently expected to arrive in America and Europe as well.

The world's largest car manufacturer, the creator of the Prius hybrid, is now betting that customers will embrace fuel cell technology far more readily than the 100% electric drive that Nissan and Tesla have instead championed. The view of Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's chairman — the man who, by inventing the Prius in 1993, effectively gave rise to all subsequent generations of hybrid cars — is that hybrid drive could represent a "long bridge" towards future technologies, including fuel cells.

The cost of Toyota's first hydrogen model in history is expected to be around 7 million yen (50,000 euros), though the price will vary depending on the target markets and the availability of government incentives.

Purchase incentives for hydrogen cars have already been announced, for example, by the Japanese government. In this regard, the Tokyo government was persuaded to believe in this alternative fuel by Toyota and Honda, and is preparing to introduce a series of purchase incentives in order to bring list prices down to around 2 million yen by 2025. The aim is to nurture an innovative project that by 2030 could generate earnings of up to 1,000 billion yen.

The Toyota FCV/Mirai should deliver over 100 kW of power for its electric motor and a range of up to 480 km, with refuelling times comparable to those of conventional cars. The need to build infrastructure represents a limitation, at least for now, on the uptake of such vehicles, which nonetheless aspire to achieve greater penetration than conventional electric cars, with their limited range and long recharging times.

Japanese oil company JX Nippon Oil & Energy has announced its intention to build 100 hydrogen stations in Japan by the end of the 2018/19 fiscal year. Around twenty fuel cell facilities (Japan believes in its success) will already be completed by the end of this fiscal year.

Alongside Honda and Hyundai, Toyota is the carmaker that believes most strongly in the future development of hydrogen models. It has in fact been working on this programme for 18 years, and the dream of bringing a fuel cell vehicle to mass-market production is on the verge of becoming a reality.