Despite facing backlash in the lead up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, Japanese car giant Toyota has used the latest Games to promote hydrogen as one of the many ways to eliminate vehicle emissions.
After being the official vehicle supplier of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – held in 2021 due to the global pandemic – Toyota has continued to leverage the attention on the world’s largest sporting spectacle to showcase its emerging technology.
Among its vast vehicle fleet is 500 Toyota Mirais, which are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell which converts the world’s most abundant element into electricity, charging a small battery pack which powers an electric motor.
It’s not the first time the Mirai has been shown off at the Olympic Games after featuring in Tokyo as well, but its effect in Paris will continue to be felt well after this weekend’s closing ceremony, with the 500 cars set to become taxis in the French capital.
The Mirai sedan isn’t the only Toyota fuel-cell hydrogen vehicle being showcased in France throughout the competition, with a HiLux prototype also making the rounds – though not in Paris.
Based in Versailles where equestrian events have been held, the Toyota HiLux hydrogen prototype is making a rare public appearance alongside the brand’s ongoing evaluation of 10 vehicles for production.
In June, Toyota said the project – run by Toyota Manufacturing UK with funding from the Japanese carmaker and a consortium consisting of multiple partners – was in its “final phase”, with five vehicles undergoing “rigorous field testing to assess safety, performance, functionality and durability” in real-world conditions.
The other five are being used for customer and media demonstrations, including at the Paris Olympics and upcoming Paralympic Games.
Hydrogen isn’t the only emissions-busting technology Toyota is showcasing, with approximately 1500 electric vehicles (EVs), mainly the bZ4X, also on the ground in France, including a number of remote-controlled scale versions which are being used for field events.
This is in addition to an undisclosed number of hybrid vehicles – such as the Toyota Corolla and Yaris – also being deployed for athlete transport and as support cars in cycling events.
While an open letter to Games organisers by the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (CSRF) called for the Toyota Mirai to be removed as the official car of the XXXIII Olympiad just weeks before it kicked off, there have been no physical protests reported due to its inclusion.
The scientists who signed the letter claimed the Mirai doesn’t meet the Olympic Games’ net-zero ambitions because most buyers of the sedan will fill it up with hydrogen which originated as fossil fuels, such as methane gas.
MORE: Scientists protest Toyota’s hydrogen car for being too dirty
