Class Action Claims Toyota Mirai Electric Vehicles Were Misrepresented Amid Hydrogen Fuel Shortage

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Toyota faces a proposed class action lawsuit that accuses the automaker of concealing from consumers the refueling limitations of Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.

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Specifically, the 20-page false advertising lawsuit claims the automaker has sold and leased the Toyota Mirai, which comes in two trims and is exclusively available in California, while touting that hydrogen refueling is “available, seamless, and comparable to refueling with gasoline.” However, Toyota has allegedly failed to mention to drivers that hydrogen fueling stations are often out of fuel or dysfunctional thanks to broken equipment or internal issues that prevent them from accepting the fuel cards provided by Toyota as an incentive for purchasing the hydrogen-powered vehicles.

In addition, the company has concealed that filling up the Toyota Mirai with hydrogen fuel—which may be unavailable for days at a time—can take several hours and may result in the pump freezing onto the vehicle, the case contends. According to the complaint, drivers in such cases have often been forced to wait more than 30 minutes for the pump to warm up enough to be removed.

The filing asserts that the undisclosed refueling limitations have rendered the Toyota Mirai “unsafe, unreliable and inoperable” and forced consumers to travel long distances to find hydrogen fuel or seek towing services or other transportation when their vehicles are empty.

Moreover, the lawsuit takes issue with the $15,000 hydrogen fuel card provided to Toyota Mirai owners, which the automaker purported would last at least five years. As the suit tells it, thanks to the skyrocketing price of hydrogen fuel, Mirai drivers’ fuel cards have been exhausted in far shorter periods than represented, leaving them to cover the cost of their car’s pricey fuel out of pocket.

The case goes on to allege that Toyota has also misrepresented the Mirai’s fuel capacity. In particular, the complaint says, the automaker has stated that the second-generation Mirai XLE has a fuel capacity of up to 402 miles per tank, while the Mirai Limited gets approximately 357 miles per tank. Contrary to the representations, the actual fuel capacities of the Mirai vehicles are up to 100 miles less than drivers are led to expect, the filing contests.

Just days after the lawsuit was filed, dozens of scientists, engineers and academics penned an open letter asking the Paris Olympics’ organizers to replace the Toyota Mirai as the official vehicle of the Games, claiming it undermines their commitment to shrink the event’s carbon footprint given most of the world’s hydrogen is still derived from fossil fuels.

The Toyota Mirai lawsuit looks to represent all California residents who purchased or leased Toyota Mirai vehicles from 2021 to 2024.

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