Hydrogen could become the fuel of the outback, according to Toyota.

The Japanese car maker is showcasing its fuel of the future in Australia, importing three of its Mirai fuel-cell vehicles for a local trial.

While it is a car that is around the same size as a Camry and performs the duties of a regular family car, Toyota Australia product planning corporate manager Michael Elias told Drive that the global car giant will aim to target hydrogen for applications in heavy vehicles that need to drive long distances between refills – perfect, he says, for our rural centres where LandCruisers with a 1500km driving range are loved.

"There is still going to be opportunities for plug-in electric vehicles [EVs], but I think for Australia [hydrogen] suits our country with a lot of remote usage, even if you don't live in a remote environment there are a lot of people who need to travel there," he says.

"If you look at today's market we've got vehicles that travel up to 1500km range and in those segments it's an important attribute. Range is important [when] travelling to remote environments, so for any vehicle that travels longer distances, really 500km is the starting point and then you can go wherever.

"Because of the energy density of hydrogen, you can actually package a lot of range in a small space [and] already we've built hydrogen buses, we've done a trial on a hydrogen truck, so actually the powertrain is flexible, it can deliver high-torque because of the electric motors, which is another aspect of offroading and rural use.

"There is a huge opportunity that hydrogen can do all those things and travel long distances for those particular segments."

Elias notes that even the best EVs currently need a sizeable stack of batteries to achieve a 500km range and then require a substantial period of time to be recharged. A hydrogen vehicle needs a fuel tank and a three-minute refuelling time to achieve the same result.

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"The crux of everything is convenience, it's what we're used to, and I feel, even as a busy person, I don't want another complicated thing to do," he says of an EV's recharge time.

Speaking at a media event in Sydney – where Toyota Australia announced the medium-sized Mirai hydrogen sedan would participate in a rolling roadshow to showcase the technology around the country – the product planning corporate manager insists that for a company which is particularly popular in the bush, hydrogen remains important in long-term future planning.

"It's great for us, we've got the biggest model range, we've got a vehicle in almost every segment, there will be applications for hydrogen fuel-cells, there will be applications for plug-in EVs," Elias explains.

Asked whether the lower population of rural centres impacts the business case required for a hydrogen fuelling station (touted to cost up to $1 million per bowser due to the heavyweight storage requirements of the potentially explosive fuel) Elias admits: "You would need some critical mass."

"There are rural centres where there are opportunities, there will be some areas where the critical mass doesn't justify it at the start but I think there is opportunity if you have trucks adopting it, buses adopting it, because it's actually just an energy fuel," he adds before hinting that Toyota may be in a better position than most manufacturers to integrate outback buyers into its product plan.

"Luckily we have HiLuxes and LandCruisers and we already know how well received they are in rural areas."