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Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day challenge electric cars in the race for pollution-free roads—but only if more stations are built to fuel them.
Honda, Toyota and Hyundai have leased a few hundred fuel cell vehicles over the past three years, and expect to lease well over 1,000 this year. But for now, those leases are limited to California, which is home to most of the 34 public hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S.
Undaunted, automakers are investing heavily in the technology. General Motors recently supplied the U.S. Army with a fuel cell pickup, and GM and Honda are collaborating on a fuel cell system due out by 2020. Hyundai will introduce a longer-range fuel cell SUV next year.
"We've clearly left the science project stage and the technology is viable," said Charles Freese, who heads GM's fuel cell business.
Like pure electric cars, fuel cell cars run quietly and emission-free. But they have some big advantages. Fuel cell cars can be refueled as quickly as gasoline-powered cars. By contrast, it takes nine hours to fully recharge an all-electric Chevrolet Bolt using a 240-volt home charger. Fuel cells cars can also travel further between fill-ups.
Would you rather trade in your gas-guzzler for a hydrogen fuel cell car, or an electric car?
(Score: 2) by n1 on Monday April 17 2017, @01:51AM
Probably... I think a public charging infrastructure could work though, and it would be what i'd actually hope given current market/tech constraints... But as someone who lived in London for many years, I can only see how it will put the cost of living up further through parking and council taxes over anything else.... When I first started working, i'd spend more on parking for a day in some parts of town than i'd get in wages. Parking fees has gone up a lot, wages for young people not so much.
Personal transport is going to only become more and more of a luxury for city dwellers -- and everyone else -- the push towards EV's is going to help with that. Of course hiring/ride sharing and public transport variations will still be an option, but we are shifting away from the autonomy of travel people have enjoyed through recent years, when you could buy a serviceable used car for $1000 that would go for another 5 years and 100,000 miles with minimal maintenance.
This is obviously all not explicitly to do with the topic and hand of this article, but in larger metropolitan areas I do expect a big reduction in personal car ownership in the coming years, and the death of the cheap used car in, which will remove some freedom of movement for people on lower incomes.