Hydrogen-powered 2021 Toyota Mirai scores five-star ANCAP safety rating

The 2021 Toyota Mirai has been given ANCAP's tick of approval, scoring the maximum five stars from the independent vehicle safety authority.

Toyota’s hydrogen-powered Mirai performed highly across the four major categories, and enjoyed the second-best result ever for pedestrian road safety thanks to its active bonnet protection system.

ANCAP pointed out the Mirai’s hydrogen fuel-cell and electric drive “had no effect on the Mirai’s inherent safety,” with extra attention paid to the vehicle during and after the simulated crash tests.

Toyota says the Mirai’s hydrogen tanks are made from high quality laminated carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, ensuring strength – but keeping them lightweight.

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Fitted with Toyota Safety Sense as standard, the vehicle gets; autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, radar cruise control, lane-keep assist, semi-autonomous emergency steering, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and speed-sign recognition.

“The safety specification of vehicles entering the market today has clearly evolved to take into account not only the physical protection offered by a vehicle if it crashes, but also the ability to actively avoid a crash or serious outcome for those outside the vehicle,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said.

“The results achieved by the Toyota Mirai are to be commended – showing safety and environmental benefits can, and should, go hand-in-hand.”

The model is one of only a handful to receive ANCAP’s five-star rating, despite not having a centre airbag located between the two front-seat occupants.

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While only 20 Mirai sedans were brought to Australia by Toyota when the model landed on our shores in February this year, the result bodes well for the next-generation Lexus GS – rumours out of Japan suggesting the luxury model will be based on the Mirai.

Unlike most new cars on sale today, the Mirai wasn’t available to buy at a car dealership. Toyota Australia invited interested parties to fill out an application form, with the company then selecting customers based on a number of criteria – including their proximity to the refuelling station at Toyota’s former manufacturing site in Melbourne’s west.

However, Mirai customers are only able to lease the vehicle from Toyota for a duration of 36 months or 60,000km, for $1750 per month including refuelling – equating to $63,000 over the duration of the lease.

It’s believed the Mirai may have helped contribute to the postcode of Derrimut and Altona North coming in as Australia’s third-highest concentration of zero-emissions vehicles – with both suburbs being close to Toyota hydrogen facility in Altona North.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, compiled recently by the Institute for Sensible Transport, showed 102 vehicles registered in the postcode.