Toyota Mirai fleet keeps key workers safe during lockdown

A fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are safely transporting NHS staff and other key workers across London during the coronavirus outbreak.

Peter Joseph, a Toyota Mirai driver at Green Tomato Cars, has seen a rise in demand since restrictions were implemented a month ago.

“For the last few weeks, since the lockdown, I have been busier because a lot of people don’t want to use public transport,” he said.

“I’ve noticed more NHS staff are using our services and many key workers live quite a way away from London so I’m covering more miles than normal.

“I had one person who works for one of our corporate clients travel from Southend to west London which is quite a long journey”.

Some companies are paying for employees to get to work from home in private hire vehicle to avoid contamination and maintain social distancing measures.

Jones notes that these journeys make up for the shortfall in the regular trips to airports while planes are grounded and holidays cancelled.

Green Tomato Cars operates 50 Toyota Mirais as part of the ZEFER project that demonstrates a viable business cases for fleets of fuel cell electric vehicles.

The Mirai is a zero-emission vehicle that only emits water, making it an environmentally friendly alternative to petrol or diesel cars.