Car Fact #98 — September 22, 2026

The hydrogen fuel cell systems in early Toyota Mirai prototypes were calibrated to deliberately slow hydrogen gas flow during the first 30 seconds of operation, creating intentionally reduced power output on cold starts because engineers discovered that sudden full-power delivery could cause the fuel cell stack’s electrochemical reactions to generate hotspots that would permanently degrade membrane durability—essentially programming the car to drive slowly until the fuel cell warmed up enough to handle full output safely.