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| Tue, 18th Aug 2020 14:12:00 |
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Fuel Cells: Vehicles |
Key Takeaways:
The total number of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the world today is small, roughly 25,000 — similar to the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the road in 2010.
Hydrogen refueling infrastructure is also still nearly non-existent. There were approximately 470 hydrogen fueling stations worldwide in 2019, compared to 25,000 EV charging stations and 120,000 gas stations in the US alone. While a nation-wide system for delivering electricity already existed to allow charging stations to be installed anywhere, the same is not true for hydrogen.
Efforts to build out hydrogen fueling stations and distribution systems are increasing, particularly in Europe and Asia (China, Korea, and Japan). The number of hydrogen fueling stations could double in the next two years.
The one area where fuel cell vehicles have gained significant traction is FORKLIFTS. You can’t have emissions in enclosed warehouses, and battery charging is time consuming and requires more space.
The main barriers to FCEVs becoming more economical are the need for platinum in PEMFC fuel cells (the primary type of fuel cell used in vehicles), the lack of widespread hydrogen infrastructure, improving system designs (storing hydrogen on the vehicle more efficiently), and scaling into markets where large demand may not exist.
Over the next ten years, FCEVs like Nikola’s semis may actually make inroads into long haul trucking and outcompete BEVs… but only if the cost and availability of distributed hydrogen improves, and there are incentives to decarbonize transportation.
Read original full article
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