Even as Tesla Motors continues to sell its Model X and Model S electric vehicles — the latter having reached a record number of sales in the second quarter of 2015 — several other car companies are going head-to-head with the EV forerunner.
But not all of Tesla’s competition is in EV cars.
Toyota has plans for a fall release of their newest energy-efficient vehicle, the Mirai, which will run an estimated 312 miles per tank of hydrogen. This is a far cry farther than even Tesla’s upcoming Model 3, which will reach 250 miles on a single charge.
There’s a major catch though: where Tesla owners have access to Supercharger stations and independently owned EV charging stations all over the country, only California has enough hydrogen fuel stations to accommodate a market for this kind of car.
There are currently only a total of 12 public hydrogen stations in the whole country, and 10 of them are in California. Toyota, noting this problem, has made plans to build an additional 46 stations in California.
It seems only one state will be able to use these long-range hydrogen vehicles, and only if they stay within range of these fuel stations.
Even Toyota’s offer of three years or $15,000 worth of free hydrogen fuel may not be able to make this restriction worth it. Tesla owners have free access to Supercharger stations for long-distance drives, and those are found practically everywhere.
Toyota has some work to do before their Mirai is up to speed with any of Tesla’s models.
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