Chris Grayling MP is first to drive one of the Green Tomato Cars

New Fleet of 50 Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Electric Saloons

Chris Grayling MP was the first person to drive one of 50 new Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric saloons that are joining the London fleet of green private hire company Green Tomato Cars. He made the short journey from the Department for Transport offices in Westminster, with Jonny Goldstone, Green Tomato Cars co-founder and Managing Director and Paul Van der Burgh, Toyota GB President and Managing Director.

Chris Grayling said: ‘I was thoroughly impressed by the Toyota Mirai today and was delighted to be the first passenger in one of Green Tomato Cars’ new zero – emission vehicles. Improvements in hydrogen infrastructure over the last year and the developing partnerships between the hydrogen power providers, manufacturers of hydrogen vehicles and end users, are helping accelerate the decarbonisation of road transport.’

The new cars are being provided with the support of the UK’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV*) Hydrogen for Transport Programme and the Zero Emission Fleet vehicles For European Roll-Out(ZEFER**) programme, an EU project, funded by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU***).

Green Tomato Cars is taking delivery of 25 of the zero emission Mirai cars now, with another 25 due to be delivered in September. These vehicles
will offer the same service as the current premium ‘Black Car’ service and will also be allocated to standard bookings across London and the Home Counties, 24/7.

Jonny Goldstone, MD and co-founder of Green Tomato Cars comments: “We’re very proud to have pioneered hydrogen powered transport in London and are delighted with the performance of our two original Toyota Mirai. This is a truly unique project where investors in hydrogen technology, manufacturers of hydrogen cars and Green Tomato Cars as the end users, have come together with a commitment to make hydrogen transport workfor the good of the people and the environment.

We’d like to thank OLEV, the FCH JU and Toyota for their support in helping us acquire such a significant number of these innovative cars. We’ve already seen lots of demand for our zero emission Mirai hydrogen cars from our major corporate clients, as well as a green room of celebrities and hundreds of our regular private individual customers. We can’t wait to put the new cars on the road and drive into the future”.

Paul Van der Burgh, Managing Director and President of Toyota GB PLC commented: ‘We’re delighted that Green Tomato Cars have been happy with their Toyota Mirai cars and that they are taking 50 more. It’s clear that confidence in hydrogen powered transport is growing among end users, which is another step in the path towards a hydrogen society.’

The Mirai are expected to do the same average mileage as other cars on the Green Tomato Cars fleet, around 120-150 miles a day. A Mirai can travel up to 300 miles on a full tank of hydrogen, so the private hire cars should be refuelling every two dayson average. Improvements in hydrogen infrastructure have
increased the viability of hydrogen powered transport in the UK. Over the last year several new hydrogen fuelling stations have opened across the UK. There are a total of six stations within and around the M25 (including one in Hendon) with more expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Green Tomato Cars was the first private hire company in Europe to take on hydrogen fuel cell cars in Europe, having had two Toyota Mirai cars on its fleet since 2015 completing over 25,000 miles a year in normal commercial operation.

Green Tomato Cars has embarked on a significant recruitment project, taking on employee drivers(for the first time in the company’s history) for the new Mirai cars. This will ensure the right balance of these unique cars in service at any given time. An additional benefit will be that the company can test the viability of the employee model in terms of efficiency, quality of service, driver engagement and passenger satisfaction, compared with the current
model in which current drivers are independent contractors working on a flexible ‘earn-as-you-drive’ basis. Recruitment is open to current Green Tomato drivers and new applicants.