Fuel Cell Vehicles Around The Corner, MB Does Cold Weather Testing
March 25, 2008
According to the major Japanese automakers, the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still more than five years away. At a symposium on FCVs held earlier in March, representatives from Honda, Nissan and Toyota agreed that FVCs won’t be widely available until 2015. The automakers cite primary concerns over the vehicles’ durability, production costs and the infrastructure support for the delivery of hydrogen.
The cost of FCVs is still prohibitively high and would need to be reduced by 90 percent of its current costs to enter mass production. Once in mass production, the automakers believe that additional efficiencies could reduce the cost of FCVs by another 90 percent, making the technology commercially viable.
Aside from these issues, FCV’s also face the lack of hydrogen production, storage and delivery infrastructure. Currently, there are promising technologies that could lead to on-board hydrogen production and storage, but they are years away from being commercially viable.
The durability of the vehicle’s hydrogen fuel cell power plant raise safety concerns as well. According to the manufacturers, new materials must be developed and tested that will reduce corrosion within the vehicle’s hydrogen power train. Additionally, membrane technology that resists being dissolved in the potential cycle must be perfected.
Another challenge that faces FCVs: the ability to monitor the fuel-cell reactions. Currently the industry proposes using regulated technologies like X-rays to detect irregularities in hydrogen reactions. If the measurement techniques are approved, FCVs could be in large-scale production by 2015 and FCVs could have a life expectancy of as much as 10 years.
These concerns aren’t stopping Mercedes-Benz from conducting cold-weather testing on its FCV, expected to hit the consumer market in 2010. In its tests, MB has discovered few problems with cold starts, but found that fuel-cell vehicles require recalibrated ESP systems. Although it doesn’t see a very bright immediate future for FCVs, Honda will introduce the FCX Clarity FCV later in 2008.
Photo Credit: Pierre Benker
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