I met a real hydrogen car owner

San Diego, California. Wednesday 11 April, 2018. Time: 2.49pm. We don't usually start our stories with a time stamp but this was an event worth marking in the diary.

We were patiently waiting for our two Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell test cars to be refilled at the True Zero pump when a third Mirai showed up.

This was unexpected.

Was it another Toyota loaner? One that was just being juiced up for another media entourage got their hands on it to see whether it was indeed “just like a normal car”?

No. This was Dr Nazmul Ula, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Associate Dean for the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He also happens to be a very approachable guy, and a hydrogen fuel-cell enthusiast from way back.

“Ever since I saw the Moon Landing, I’ve wanted one of these. I remember asking how the space shuttle had on-board electricity and lighting and so on, and I was told that it was a fuel-cell. That it was running on hydrogen. And that one day, cars would run on hydrogen, too. 

“It was at that point that I said I would own a hydrogen car when it was available. And now I do.”

He was at the hydrogen fuelling station in his very own 'dream car'... in fact, it was one of two Toyota Mirai models he owns. And before you think it, this wasn’t a plant by Toyota - the Good Doctor was on his way to a meeting in San Diego, having driven down from Los Angeles, where he lives and works.

It isn’t just a deep-seated desire to have a hydrogen fuel-cell that spurred Dr Ula to buy a pair of Mirais. He first signed up on his initial lease because it was a damned good deal financially, too.

I’m paying $11 per day for this car, and I can drive it as much as I want - it costs me nothing

“My lease works out at US$350 ($451) per month. It’s the cheapest car to lease in this size,” he said. “I got one for me, and one for my wife.” Then he told me about the incentives.

First, US$5000 ($6442) from the California state government.

Then US$6000 ($7730) from the US federal government.

So, we’re at US$11,000 ($14,172) already - on a car that costs US$57,500 ($74,078). Then there’s the fuel incentive. He gets US$15,000 ($19,324) worth of hydrogen fuel at no cost. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Free motoring, essentially.

“I’m paying $11 per day for this car, and I can drive it as much as I want - it costs me nothing,” he said. “I’ll never be able to use fifteen grand's worth of fuel in three years!” 

If you’re wondering, the cost per kilogram of hydrogen at the fuelling station we went to was US$16.58/kg ($21.36/kg), so a fill of the five-kilogram storage tank from empty would average out at about US$82.90. He says he gets on average 275 miles (443km) from a tank. In petrol terms, it's as if he's driving a guzzling V8 or something, because that many kays for that much money isn’t terrific. But he’s not paying a cent for the fuel.

And get this: it would take almost 181 refills from empty at that pump price for him to use all of that fifteen grand ‘allowance’. Some buyers might, but they’d have to be on the road a lot. 

When I asked if he would consider an electric car if it was the same situation, I was served a resounding “no”.

“The charging takes too long, and the materials used in batteries are very toxic,” he said. “This is a very low toxicity vehicle.

“This takes five minutes to refuel, like a regular car,” he said - even though he was third in the queue of Mirai models waiting to fuel up, and it had taken us about 10 minutes to figure out how to pay using the True Zero pump. “This is the longest I’ve had to wait to fill up in two-and-a-half years.

“We need both technologies - battery and fuel-cell hydrogen - but this is the right technology for me. Speed of refuelling is vital, but the tricky thing to know is where the hydrogen fuel stations are located.

“I had to plan ahead when I drove down from L.A. to be here today,” he said. “And last week there was a hydrogen shortage at home.”

He pulled out his iPhone, opened an app with locations of different fuelling stations and pointed out the green lights on the side. “These green lights mean the station has hydrogen, but last week in L.A., they were all red.”

In further proof this wasn’t a plant by Toyota, Dr Ula let me in on a little secret.

“I’m not a Toyota guy, I like Honda - I’m a Honda guy,” he whispered, before letting me know that the Clarity Fuel Cell model wasn’t available when he took up the lease on the Mirai. And he gave up a Toyota Prius to get into a Toyota Mirai… maybe this was a set-up, after all, I began to think.

But then Dr Ula told me he thinks he may switch to a Clarity when his lease term runs out.

Until then, this was one very happy hydrogen fuel-cell car owner.

What's your dream car? Let us know in the comments below.