Hydrogen as an energy carrier has a number of advantages for cars. Nevertheless, the fuel cell has hardly become established so far.
It could now make a breakthrough as a drive system for vans. This also raises hopes for the technology in the passenger car market.
The fuel cell is back on the agenda. Wherever short charging times are important or high payload requirements prohibit the use of heavy batteries, developers are once again focusing on hydrogen technology. Hyundai has already taken it seriously and has the first vans on the road – Mercedes, Volvo and many others want to follow suit.
The fact that the technology is still in the race at all, despite the supposed triumph of conventional e-mobiles, has a simple reason, says Jürgen Guldner, who is responsible for it in BMW’s development department: “Completely independent of the outside temperatures, the hydrogen fuel cell drive combines the best of both worlds: The locally emission-free mobility of an electric vehicle and the unrestricted everyday usability, including short refueling stops, familiar from models with internal combustion engines.”
While even the best battery cars have to plug in for at least half an hour to fill up, hydrogen tanks are full again in just a few minutes. And while the range of Tesla and Co. decreases with the temperatures, a car with a fuel cell always travels the same distance.
Hydrogen as an energy carrier also offers another advantage, at least in theory: It can be stored on a large scale better than electricity.
In practice, there is no significant infrastructure for the gas in our country, nor is there sufficient production capacity. Especially not with sustainable processes and green electricity, says automotive economist Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from Duisburg, Germany, putting the brakes on the euphoria.
Fuel cell trucks on the road in Switzerland
Mercedes and Volvo nevertheless want to put a fuel cell truck on the road in the second half of the decade in a joint venture, Toyota wants to be ready as early as this year, and VW subsidiaries Scania and MAN have also initiated corresponding developments. Hyundai not only has the first 50 trucks already on the roads in Switzerland, but has also already set up its own factory.
