Toyota Motor Corp's new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) sedan car "Mirai", meaning "future" in Japanese, is displayed during an unveiling event at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, November
Toyota Motor Corp's new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) sedan car "Mirai", meaning "future" in Japanese, is displayed during an unveiling event at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, November 18, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

It's here! The much-awaited first mass-market hydrogen fuel cell car by Toyota will begin to sell in Japan in December and in the U.S. and Europe in the following year.

The sedan, called the Mirai, which translates into the interesting name of "future" in Japanese, is expected to be a big hit. All it will emit is water vapor, not pollutants. However, it will not be low-priced for a while. The price is pegged at 6.7 million yen, or $57,000. Still, the market will be specific, and the sales are expected to be just 400 next year.

In another two years by the end of 2017, the hope for sale is 3,000 in the U.S. and 100 annually in Europe. The picture will evolve in the following decade, though. The "world's biggest carmaker" will graduate into "tens of thousands" of units in the next 10 years.

However, some sceptics do not believe that the hydrogen-powered car will pick up sales quickly, or even that it would be a viable alternative. As Forbes put it, the Toyota cars are not "designed to actually sell in any meaningful numbers, because they are ridiculous to buy."

Still, the technology is new and interesting. The hydrogen is expected to power the Mirai to travel up to 650 kilometers without refueling, three times more than a traditional electric car. Its hydrogen tanks too can fill up in a few minutes just like petrol or diesel vehicles, so you can rule out battery recharging too. There will be no exhaust fumes, but fossil fuels will still be harnessed to manufacture hydrogen and then compress it.

Ultimately, the Toyota would be a "more practical alternative" to electric vehicles too. EVs get restricted due to their range and charging time, according to CBSnews. Mitsushisa Kato, executive vice president of Toyota, said that Mirai "marks a milestone in motoring technology." He gave a presentation in Tokyo, outlining the two major innovations of Mirai. Firstly, he called it an inventive technique to bring solutions to "global environmental and energy problems" and secondly, he said that it would be the first step towards "a hydrogen-based society."

Meanwhile, Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda said in a video message on Toyota's website: "We are at a turning point in the automotive industry." Being the global leaders in the green car sector, including Honda and Nissan, the country's seven car manufacturers will pour $24 billion to explore this field this year. Honda, which is among the biggest competitors of Toyota, will also launch a commercial fuel cell vehicle in March 2016. Honda manufactures another small scale fuel cell car called FCX Clarity. In 1997, Toyota produced Prius, which is a petrol-electric hybrid that has sold more than 3 million units.

The next step for Toyota will be an effort to reduce the prices of hydrogen-powered cars and increase the hydrogen-fuelling stations to at least 100 by 2015. Currently, there are very few such stations and they are found only in developed countries.