Water from Pennsylvania's Oil Creek Becomes Hydrogen Fuel +VIDEO

Water from Pennsylvania's Oil Creek Becomes Hydrogen Fuel for Mirai

TORRANCE, Calif. (June 3, 2015) – A creek, a little high school chemistry, and a former oil boom town open to a hydrogen-fueled future. This is the story of “Fueled by Oil Creek,” the second online video in Toyota’s multi-part “Fueled by Everything” series aimed at highlighting renewable sources of hydrogen fuel, leading up to launch of the 2016 Toyota Mirai.

Directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay, the 5-minute video takes viewers to Titusville, Pennsylvania where, in 1859, an oil well changed the American energy landscape. Flash forward to 2015. Local high school students in the film collect water from the aptly named Oil Creek for a lesson in electrolysis, separating water into oxygen and hydrogen gas using an electric current. The resulting hydrogen gas powers the hydrogen fuel cell electric Toyota Mirai to travel up to 300 miles on a full tank. The only tailpipe emission is water, just like the fuel source.

“This small Pennsylvania town saw the boom and bust of the oil industry, making it the perfect place to tell the story of hydrogen as a future fuel and the Toyota Mirai,” Martin said. “The residents’ genuine curiosity and enthusiasm for the next step in our country’s transportation story can inspire us all to think differently about energy and technology.”

The Toyota Mirai will arrive in select California dealerships in October.

Toyota’s “Fueled by Everything” campaign was created with creative agency partner Droga5. To see the video and information about Toyota’s commitment to fuel cell technology, visit www.toyota.com/mirai/fueledbyeverything.html.