Even though Back To The Future Day is now in the past, Toyota isn’t ready to let its promotional Mirai vehicle just sit in a closet somewhere. The heavily modified hydrogen fuel-cell powered Mirai was first seen at SEMA earlier this month, but it’s also on display at the LA Auto Show.

Movie magic sometimes turns into technological reality. On October 21st 2015 more than 300 new Toyota Mirai owners, Mirai dealers and special guests watched actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd bring a famous trash-into-fuel scene from “Back to the Future Part II” into the present. The occasion: a celebration to mark the U.S. arrival of Toyota’s Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle — a modern, real-life version of Doc Brown’s trash-fueled technology. The “Fueled by the Future” video debuted at the event is the last in the “Fueled By Everything” online video series demonstrating hydrogen fuel’s potential to be sourced from almost anything, including solar, wind and trash.

October 21st marked the official on-sale date of the Mirai, the same date that was “the future” in the storied Universal franchise. More than 2,000 people so far have requested to buy a Mirai in California, where it is first available. The party celebrated those trailblazers with food, décor and conversation inspired by the “Back to the Future” vision of 2015. New owners representing each of the dealership locations in Southern and Northern California received ceremonial keys. They will be behind the wheel soon.

“A piece of the future is now a reality with the Toyota Mirai,” Lloyd said. “Compared to some other technologies predicted in the film, like rehydrated pizza or self-tying shoes, this technology has the real potential to change the world.”

“Back to the Future” films were in theaters on October 21 only and are available in a new Blu-Ray and DVD box set. While drivers can’t exactly throw soda cans and banana peels into the Mirai fuel tank and expect to cruise the roads of California, organic waste can decompose and produce biogas at landfills. This gas can be purified into and converted into hydrogen for fuel. The only emission from the Mirai’s tailpipe is water.

Tags: toyota

Alan is a concept-cars.org founder editor.
Email this author | All posts by Alan