2022 Toyota Mirai to Feature Hands-Free Teammate Highway Assist
Toyota adds Level 2 hands-free driver assistance to its portfolio with the hydrogen-powered 2022 Mirai, but is the subscription requirement a deal-breaker?
- North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
Toyota's hydrogen-powered Mirai will be the first to receive the automaker's latest generation Toyota Teammate driver assist technology when the 2022 model arrives this year. The new subscription-based tech will also allow hands-free highway cruising similar to GM's Super Cruise under certain conditions.
The Toyota Teammate technology suite has been in development since at least 2017 when it was first announced with the Lexus LS Plus concept at the Tokyo Motor Show and finally debuted last year in Japan on the Lexus LS 500h. Today's announcement marks the debut of the tech here in the US and on what is arguably the most advanced Toyota-branded vehicle in the automaker's lineup.
There are two parts to the Toyota Teammate tech: Advanced Park and Advanced Drive. Advanced Park, which will be standard on the top-spec Limited trim, is an evolution of the hands-free parking assist that we've seen for years on a variety of luxury and premium vehicles. Advanced Park uses 360-degree sensors to detect an open space or obstructions and, with the touch of a button, can steer, accelerate, brake and change gears to shuffle itself into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces under the driver's supervision. A bird's-eye camera helps to check the machine's work.
Advanced Park is able to steer the vehicle into an open space, handling acceleration, braking and gear changes under the driver's supervision.
Advanced Drive is the party trick you've been waiting for. It's an SAE Level 2 driver aid system that is able to handle acceleration, braking and steering while highway cruising. The system requires that the driver's eyes stay on the road at all times, but it is able to operate hands-free on "limited access highways under certain conditions." This likely means major highways with clear markings and safe weather conditions. While active, Advanced Drive will be able to maintain its lane position and distance relative to a leading vehicle. Toyota says that Advanced Drive can also handle lane changes and overtaking slower moving vehicles, but it's unclear whether such maneuvers are handled automatically or are driver-initiated.
Adding Advanced Drive costs an additional $5,170, which also nets you a 10-year subscription to the technology-as-a-service. A decade of operation is a pretty long time -- it's in the ballpark for the average length of car ownership -- but once expired, you'll presumably have to pony up to keep the tech functional. Roadshow has reached out to Toyota for more information on pricing after that initial period and will update this piece when the automaker comments.
Advanced Drive is able to operate hands-free on the highway under certain conditions, just keep those eyes on the road.
On the bright side, opting for Advanced Drive also includes an extension of Toyota's other subscription-based technologies including Safety Connect telematics and Dynamic Navigation and Destination Assist, as well as a two-year extension of the Remote Connect service -- the subscription-based tech that made waves last year when it replaced the pay-once physical key fob remote start. That's a lot of subscriptions that could come back to bite owners in the future. But hey, the Mirai also comes with $15,000 of complimentary hydrogen fuel, which should help keep initial operating costs down.
The 2022 Toyota Mirai XLE starts at $50,525 including the $1,025 destination charge. Toyota Teammate Advanced Park comes online with the Mirai Limited starting at $66,025, or $72,195 with the Advanced Drive package.