Almost every automobile manufacturer is devoted to the development of completely electric vehicles. Hydrogen technology, on the other hand, cannot be regarded to be in the same category.
Despite the fact that both technologies aim to make the fleet more sustainable, their proponents appear to be diametrically opposed. With a newly published study, scientist Patrick Plötz has thrown a fresh bat into the henhouse: the role of hydrogen in transportation appears to have been exhausted.
Manufacturers only invest in hydrogen technology, according to Plötz, because they have already put too much money into it and do not want to give up.
He noted in a recent article in the major scientific magazine Nature that the numbers speak for themselves. There are only approximately 25,000 hydrogen vehicles on the road worldwide, and they rely on roughly 540 filling facilities. The Hyundai NEXO and Toyota Mirai are the only models available.
Simultaneously, there are at least fifteen million plug-in automobiles on the road, which can already be charged at over 1.5 million charging stations. Furthermore, the range is far larger, with at least 350 models. Plötz also highlights that fully electric car manufacturers have made significant progress in terms of driving range and charging speed. And, notwithstanding, the race isn’t finished yet.
“We can’t wait for hydrogen technology to catch up in road transport. Our concentration should now be on completely electric vehicles for both passenger cars and road transportation “Plötz argues.
Experts aren’t ruling out hydrogen for vehicles just yet
“Because of the turbulent evolution of the completely electric car, the hydrogen car is a challenging narrative,” confesses Stéphan Vermeulen, editor-in-chief of AutoWeek. Trucks and buses, he believes, have a role to play.
Rico Luman, a senior economist at the research tank ING Think, shares this viewpoint. “True, battery technology is most visible in road transportation. That appears to be the case, at least for passenger cars, but also for a large portion of heavy road cargo. This is due to a number of factors. The fundamental reason for this is that hydrogen is far less efficient than batteries.”
Luman, who specializes in transportation, logistics, and mobility, isn’t ready to dismiss hydrogen as a long-distance transportation option just yet. “Currently, the range of completely electric trucks is insufficient for long-distance transportation. Furthermore, substantially bigger battery packs add a significant amount of weight. Furthermore, a well-developed infrastructure of rapid chargers is required to deploy such vehicles cost-effectively over long distances.”
Lobby for a vibrant hydrogen truck
Plötz is aware that a vocal group in Europe is pushing for the use of hydrogen technology in trucks. For example, by 2030, a wide coalition of manufacturers, technological businesses, energy corporations, and stakeholders in the transportation and logistics industry hopes to have 100,000 hydrogen-powered heavy trucks on the road. This year, 1500 hydrogen filling stations must be created to achieve this goal.
This, according to the scientist, is an impossible aim, especially considering many manufacturers will not begin serial manufacturing of hydrogen trucks until 2027. “Fully electric second-generation trucks will have been on the road for a long period by that time.” A 2-megawatt charging standard is already in the works.
Furthermore, studies have revealed that hydrogen vehicles would have greater operational expenses than fully electric trucks. These running expenses, according to Plötz, have a significant impact on transportation and logistics, further restricting the potential of hydrogen technology.
The industry competes with transportation
Even if hydrogen can be generated sustainably, there are still concerns regarding the technology’s feasibility due to energy losses. In the hydrogen chain, 77 percent of 100 kWh of green power is wasted, compared to 31 percent in the electrical grid. According to a previous study.
While firms such as Kraftwerk in Germany are attempting to make this process more efficient, both the company and the technology appear to be in their early stages.
Other industries, too, are ready to employ green hydrogen as soon as it becomes accessible in sufficient amounts, according to Plötz and Luman. “This may be utilized more efficiently in industries such as the chemical and steel industries, which now rely heavily on gas and coal. However, synthetic fuels for aviation and shipping are also produced.”
All of this hasn’t stopped BMW from producing a hydrogen-powered version of the X5 this year, although in a limited quantity. Toyota developed the fuel cell technology, but BMW developed the fuel cell and powertrain.
The vehicle, dubbed the I Hydrogen NEXT, for the time being, is presently undergoing final winter testing, following which assembly is expected to begin later this year.
