New version of Toyota's Mirai hydrogen car can be parked with nobody in the driving seat

Japanese auto giant Toyota has unveiled the suite of features for its 2024 Mirai fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which has already gone on sale in Europe.

These include the ability to remotely park the car via a smartphone app, which “can even be used by the driver when they are standing outside the vehicle”, according to a Toyota press release.

Many of these features are safety-oriented, such as overtake prevention support, which warns the driver not to unintentionally overtake the wrong side of a vehicle; new acceleration suppression in emergency steering assist functions (a function that automatically enhances steering movements during sudden evasive manoeuvres if the driver steers too late or not hard enough to prevent a collision); and an updated pre-collision system (automatic braking) that can now recognise possible head-on collisions as well as having a wider side-on scope of view.

The new Mirai also includes an emergency driving stop system which, when active cruise control and lane trace assist are both operating, monitors the steering wheel, brake and accelerator, and after a period of no response, will bring the car to an automatic halt and trigger hazard lights.

Last month, Toyota issued a recall for 19,000 2023 Mirai cars and Lexus luxury sedans, executive sedans, and luxury coupes, due to a software programming issue that failed to display rearview images after a driver shifts into reverse within the period of time specified by US safety regulations.

Sales of FCEVs in Europe, as well as Japan and South Korea, have fallen or flatlined over the past year, which analysts attribute to high upfront vehicle prices, a lack of refuelling infrastructure, and the high cost of hydrogen fuel.