Hydrogen cars, once hailed as the future of clean transportation, have miserably failed to capture widespread popularity despite their promise of zero-emission driving. In theory, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an alluring alternative to electric cars since hydrogen is used to generate electricity with water vapor as the only byproduct. So, why haven't they caught on? The reasons can be found in a host of technological and infrastructural challenges that have kept hydrogen cars from becoming mainstream.
First, there is the infrastructural question. Whereas electric cars can be charged from home and via an ever-growing network of public charging stations, hydrogen ones demand specific refueling stations. These are not only prohibitively expensive to construct but are also few and far between in most parts of the world. A hydrogen refueling infrastructure would be a monumental task, which demands huge investments in production, storage, and distribution facilities. With the existing electricity grids, installing electric-vehicle-charging stations is relatively easy, while hydrogen requires more complicated logistics: storing hydrogen at high pressure and transporting it safely again increases the setup costs prohibitively high. The lack of infrastructure in place makes it rather challenging for any consumer to rely on hydrogen cars for daily use, let alone long-distance traveling where refueling options are scarce.
Another major challenge for hydrogen cars is the cost and intricacy of making hydrogen itself. While hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it rarely occurs naturally on Earth in its pure form and must be derived from other compounds. The majority of hydrogen today comes from natural gas in a process known as steam methane reforming, which, unfortunately, results in significant carbon emissions. This technique also goes against the green image that hydrogen cars try to portray. The other production technique uses electrolysis, whereby water is split into hydrogen and oxygen by the action of electricity. This must be derived from renewable sources such as solar or wind if hydrogen is ever going to be truly clean. However, these processes of electrolysis are highly energy-intensive at present, with significantly less efficiency than using that electricity to directly charge battery electric vehicles. This makes hydrogen not only expensive to produce, but as an energy carrier, it is inefficient, too.
Besides production costs, the technology used in the fuel cells of hydrogen cars is just as complicated and costly. The fuel cells use some rare and costly materials, such as platinum, to enable the chemical reaction that yields electricity. And while researchers are continuing to work on either reducing the amount that such materials are needed or finding cheaper alternatives, fuel cells remain one of the expensive pieces in hydrogen-powered vehicles. The result is a higher sticker price for hydrogen cars compared to conventional internal combustion vehicles and even electric cars. It is a resistance fully understandable by any buyer, given the more expensive price of such transport with limited infrastructure and more available, much cheaper alternatives like electric cars.
Hydrogen storage and transportation provide further problems. In order to fit adequate hydrogen for even a reasonable driving radius, this gas needs to be compressed to very high pressures or changed into liquid, both methods requiring specially designed robust storage tanks. Added to this, transportation to the refueling stations also requires keeping it at these high pressures or extremely low temperatures. This brings further complication and cost into the infrastructure. Besides this making hydrogen fuel more expensive, it opens safety concerns. Modern engineering has made hydrogen storage and transportation relatively safe, but the idea of driving around with a greatly pressurized, highly flammable gas has still caused hesitation among would-be consumers.
At the same time, hydrogen cars have to compete in the face of the unstoppable march of improvement within the electric vehicle market. In the last decade, electric vehicles have steadily improved their range, performance, and finally cost. Companies like Tesla, Nissan, and Chevrolet have pushed the boundaries of EV technology with a fast-expanding network of charging stations to support it. As the technology has improved, public perception increasingly moved to the side of battery electric vehicles as the preferred clean transportation option. This growth in the electric vehicle market creates a self-reinforcing circle: the more buy the electric cars, the more the charging infrastructure improves and this, in turn, makes EVs even more convenient, so boosting sales even further. Hydrogen cars are in a Catch-22: no infrastructure means few sales, and the few hydrogen cars on the road mean there is little incentive to invest in additional infrastructure.
The other factor that prohibits the popularity of hydrogen cars is the extent of range and efficiency that hydrogen fuel cells hold against modern electric batteries. At their early development stages, hydrogen cars boasted a longer range and shorter refueling times compared to electric cars. However, electric cars have also worked on increasing their range through reducing charging time. Today, many electric vehicles can go 200-300 miles on a single charge, and the fastest-charging stations can give them much of that range back in under an hour. Hydrogen cars can still boast quick refueling times, but they remain far less efficient on a well-to-wheels basis-than electric vehicles-that is, from energy production to final use, the process of using hydrogen as a fuel is more energy-intensive than using electricity directly to power a car. This is one of the major deterring points for hydrogen cars, especially since green energy is already at a premium.
Automakers themselves have also shown mixed enthusiasm for the hydrogen technology. While companies like Toyota and Hyundai have invested seriously in hydrogen vehicles, others have held back, focusing instead on electric cars. The broader auto industry has increasingly aligned with the electric vehicle trend, investing heavily in battery technology, electric powertrains, and charging infrastructure. This momentum of the industry toward electric vehicles further sidetracks hydrogen cars and their limited development and market presence.
Last but not least, there is consumer awareness and perception. While the potential of hydrogen cars is clean, the option sounds unfamiliar and somewhat mysterious to many buyers. Electric cars have widely become known and embraced by people mainly because well-known companies and government incentives chime in on electric mobility. Until such time that hydrogen cars can break through this barrier of consumer unfamiliarity and hesitation, it will be tough to find a foothold in the market.
To sum it all up, hydrogen cars have had to deal with many hurts that have caused them not to amass nearly as much attention as their electric siblings. The absence of refueling infrastructure, high production costs of hydrogen and the fuel cell technology used in these cars, complications associated with transport and storage, competition coming from a rapidly developing electric vehicle market, and limited consumer awareness-these are the main reasons for poor adoption. With hydrogen cars promising, yet mainly for heavy transport and in those regions where there is plenty of renewable energy available, they remain quite far from beating electric cars in the clean transportation revolution.
