The cost of refueling is also worth considering. Meanwhile, all of the hydrogen refueling stations in the US are located in California (Opens in a new window), so long road trips are out of the question. While still not as prevalent as gas stations, there are now thousands of EV recharging locations across the US. The differences come down to infrastructure, fuel, and availability.īattery EVs have a more robust infrastructure for public recharging than hydrogen vehicles. Both battery EVs and FCEVs use electricity instead of combustible fuel, they both have electric motors and onboard batteries, and neither one emits harmful gasses. Hydrogen vehicles have a lot in common with battery-powered cars such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E (above) and the Tesla Model 3. If that continues, FCEVs won’t be doing as much for the environment as they could, and they can’t really be called zero-emission vehicles.Īlternative processes (Opens in a new window) being explored include water electrolysis, which uses a renewable source like solar to generate electricity that can be used to separate the hydrogen from water.įord's Mustang Mach-E, an example of a battery-powered electric car Still, that's a lot fewer hydrogen refueling stations than EV charging ports, which numbered around 110,000 in the US (Opens in a new window) as of September 2021.Īnother challenge facing FCEVs is that while they may run emission-free themselves, the plants that create their hydrogen fuel often do so by burning fossil fuels in a process called steam reforming (Opens in a new window). There are fewer than 400 (Opens in a new window) FCEV fueling stations worldwide, though there are efforts to build more stations the US aims to have 1,000 online by 2030. It may be the most abundant element on the planet, but refining it into a form that can power a vehicle takes effort, and that effort is reflected in the cost per tank.įCEV refueling infrastructure is also severely lacking at the moment. All-battery EVs, on the other hand, have an average EV range of around 250 miles (Opens in a new window) at the time of this writing.įast refueling, electric power, and the only byproduct is water-sounds like the perfect green vehicle, right? Well, it could be, but unlike electric vehicles, FCEVs just aren’t there yet.įor starters, while they have a greater range than EVs, FCEVs are more expensive to refuel, in part because hydrogen is so expensive to produce. FCEVs can get between 300 and 400 miles before they need to be refueled, according to California’s Drive Clean initiative (Opens in a new window). Failsafes are also built into the vehicle that ensure the hydrogen is dispersed and released if, for example, the fuel cell is removed or overheats.Īnother advantage hydrogen cars have over battery EVs at the time of this writing is their longer range. Since hydrogen can be highly flammable (Opens in a new window) if handled improperly, those fuel tanks are thick-walled, pressurized, and tested to ensure crash safety. You just pull up to the fueling station, connect the hose, and the tank is full in around five minutes.Īn FCEV can have multiple hydrogen gas tanks on board. Refueling an FCEV’s hydrogen tanks is about as fast as filling up a gas car, one serious advantage that hydrogen cars have over battery EVs. The Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle has an estimates 402-mile range The electrons are removed from the hydrogen gas, sent through the circuit to power the motor, and combine with oxygen on the other side of the circuit to form water vapor, which is vented via the car’s exhaust. Hydrogen from the car’s onboard fuel tanks combines with oxygen inside the fuel cell stack to generate electricity via a process called reverse electrolysis. That collection of cells is called the hydrogen fuel cell stack. Like the lithium-ion cells in an EV battery, hydrogen cars have multiple fuel cells working at once to generate electricity. The fuel cells are similar in design to a lithium-ion battery: they have an anode, a cathode, and a catalyst that triggers the separation of electrons and protons from hydrogen gas pumped inside. Since they’re EVs, you’ll also hear them called fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). As with EVs, hydrogen cars don’t generate harmful emissions-the only by-product is water vapor. Hydrogen vehicles are a type of electric car that use fuel cells to power the motor instead of relying primarily on a lithium-ion battery pack they don’t burn fuel like gasoline cars.
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