Hydrogen FCVs Still Face Significant Challenges

A new report released by the National Research Council casts doubt on the ability of automakers to introduce hydrogen powered vehicles to the marketplace easily. Despite significant advances in hydrogen technology as it relates to automotive propulsion, substantial barriers to widespread adoption of the technology still remain.

The cost of producing a hydrogen-powered vehicle is stiff, which translates into higher costs for the consumer. Currently, only Honda is offering a hydrogen powered vehicle, the FCX Clarity, only in the State of California, and only on a lease arrangement. Consumers who are interested in the technology need to apply for a vehicle and need to live within a certain distance of the few hydrogen refueling stations that exist.

Massive improvements to the infrastructure must be made in order to promote hydrogen vehicles as a credible alternative, but that isn't stopping automakers from attempting to develop the vehicles. BMW and Honda both have fuel-cell vehicles in or near the mass-production stage.

Until the vehicles have been in mass production for a number of years, the cost of owning one won't drop far enough to make the vehicles attractive to consumers. From a development perspective, hydrogen powered vehicles are attractive because they represent a clear path to achieve the ZEV goals of European and US regulators, who are aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles substantially in the coming decades. With the right development environment, the NRC estimates that the light-duty hydrogen-powered fleet could grow to 200 million by 2050. In the nearer future, the report indicates that only about 2 million hydrogen vehicles could be on the road by 2020.

The report also concludes that the government would need to spend about $55 billion annually until 2023 and private industry would have to kick in another $145 million over the same period in infrastructure improvements to make hydrogen powered vehicles commercially feasible.

Source: National Research Council
Photo: BMW