Keep an eye on this one, because it might prove premature. But if hydrogen-powered cars take off, we could mark this date 12 years ago as the beginning of the revolution. It was then, on December 2, 2002, that Toyota delivered a pair of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to researchers at two University of California campuses in Davis and Irvine. The models were called “market-ready,” but that designation was actually what the researchers, with funding from Toyota, were tasked to determine, in tests acting as a bridge to the broader market.

Since then, hydrogen cars have passed some brutal tests by academic and corporate researchers, including a punishing 2,300-mile trip from Fairbanks to Vancouver in 2007. Toyota appears to believe in the concept, and in 2015 the company will put the Mirai on the market, one of the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to be sold and possibly the first to be mass-marketed. Other automakers are right behind Toyota with their own models in the pipeline.

In theory, these cars sound like a great idea. They are completely electrical, but unlike current hybrids or electric cars, there are no batteries or gasoline involved. The fuel cell model generates electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen from the air. In return, it gives off water vapor and some carbon dioxide…much better for the environment than gas-powered cars, and no need to depend on imports for fuel. (We have, as of now, no shortage of oxygen.)

In the immediate future, two big obstacles loom: The price tag for the Mirai, at $57,000, will exclude most buyers. Researchers insist, and auto manufacturers seem to be banking, that mass production will bring the price down sharply. The second big issue is fueling. As of now, fuel-cell refueling stations are more theory than reality. Germany and Japan are investing in the concept, and on these fruited plains, California is aiming to be the testing ground. The state has laid out $200 million to build 100 of the stations in the next 10 years. Will the concept work? Stay tuned. Toyota hasn’t begun production on the Mirai yet, but claims to have 200 orders for the car. They’re aiming to have 17,000 of them on American roads within 3 years.

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