Wera Hobhouse Test-drives Hydrogen-powered Car

19 February 2019

MP Wera Hobhouse test-drove Toyota’s new hydrogen fuel cell car, the Mirai, through the historic streets of Bath...

The test drive coincided with Youth Strike 4 Climate, which saw hundreds of Bath pupils walk out of classrooms and on to the street calling for action on climate change. Wera arrived at the protest in the car, showcasing the latest in low carbon transport technology.

Wera Hobhouse, recently named as the Environment & Climate Change spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Climate change is the most pressing global challenge that we face. We must look at all sustainable technologies to tackle it. Hydrogen-powered cars and public transport are part of the solution to reduce the use of fossil fuels and emissions, alongside other options such as hybrid and plug in electric vehicles.”

“As everyone in Bath is acutely aware, we must urgently find viable solutions for our heritage city’s chronic air pollution and transportation problems. Whilst this technology is expensive at the moment, the price will reduce with each iteration and as more people adopt it.”

The Mirai is powered by electricity generated on-board by a fuel cell stack through the process of combining hydrogen with oxygen. Organisations like London’s Metropolitan Police are trialling the cars.

There are currently 89 Mirai on the road in the UK which can be fuelled at a choice of 11 passenger car refuelling stations located around Swindon, London and Aberdeen. Bath does not currently have a refuelling station, but there are growing calls for one to be installed in the city.