Revolutionizing Urban Mobility: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Powertrain Vehicles Setting New Normal
- Himanshu Patni
- December 15, 2023
- AUTOMOTIVE, NEWS
- Clean Energy, Electric Mobility, FCEV, Fuel Cell Technology, Future of Mobility, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Hydrogen Vehicle, Sustainable Transport, Zero Emissions
- 0 Comments
Introduction
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles have projected their way into urban mobility with multiple advantages over their conventional counterparts. Urban mobility depends extensively on conventional power transmission for various vehicles for both commercial and personal applications. With the available infrastructure for refueling gasoline and diesel vehicles, vehicle buyers have long opted for the respective categories for transportation. Various other crucial factors, such as low upfront cost, ease of maintenance, easy availability of spare parts, etc., have also assisted the higher adoption of conventional fuel vehicles. However, the shift in consumer behavior towards the adoption of clean mobility vehicles with no carbon dioxide emissions has been a critical factor in the rapid expansion of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
Figure 1: Electric Vehicles Vs Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles
Not only do hydrogen fuel cells offer a cleaner alternative to carbon emission-based fuel, but they also emit only water through the tailpipe, which in most cases, is in purified form. Hydrogen fuel has made its way into a myriad of vehicles, such as passenger and commercial cars, tractors, trucks, aircraft, etc. These paramount shifts have been induced with two separate approaches by the vehicle manufacturers, such as retrofitting the existing vehicles to run with fuel cell electric or completely building new vehicles running on hydrogen fuel.
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Another important factor that has prevailed in hydrogen vehicles has been the rising focus of the government to reduce carbon emissions as well as instating imperative assistive policies to expedite the adoption among the manufacturers as well as buyers. As hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have come a long way since their advent due to various government initiatives paving the way for the industry to improve the rapid transformation of conventional fuel with hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, the growth has been turbocharged. These hydrogen-electric vehicles also address a wide variety of problems that electric, gasoline, and diesel vehicles face.
Global Expansion of FCEV Infrastructure
Private companies and governments across the globe are extensively investing in developing the infrastructure with hydrogen fueling stations to embrace eco-friendly modes of transportation. Many countries, such as Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, China, the US, etc., have been the forerunners in terms of establishing a large number of hydrogen fueling stations in order to accommodate the rising number of respective vehicles across different geographies.
There are many of the advantages of FCEV that are anticipated to further facilitate its adoption among the buyers in the coming years.
Longer Range: With the help of hydrogen fuel cells, vehicle manufacturers are able to achieve a longer range due to the higher energy density of hydrogen as compared to petrol and diesel. The weight of hydrogen vapor is also lesser as compared to other fuel sources, which offer a higher range to the vehicle by the requirement of lesser storage as well as reducing the weight of the vehicle.
Figure 2: Relative Vapor Density of Vehicle Fuel (Comparison)
Quick Refueling & Lower Emissions: One of the key focuses of governments across the globe is to reduce the carbon emissions from transportation, which has brought significant changes. Even though the transportation industry is rapidly shifting towards electric vehicles, there are still some major drawbacks that new buyers face, such as longer charging time, lesser availability of fast chargers, etc. With the help of hydrogen-fueled vehicles, these shortcomings can easily be addressed as hydrogen filling is similar to conventional fuel filling. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can drive up to 300 miles on a single tank, whereas electric vehicles generally have a range between 80-100 miles per charge.
Amplification of New Hydrogen Fuel Stations Across the Globe
Along with the conducive policies adopted by both the public and private sectors, another key factor that has been considered for easier adoption of hydrogen fuel vehicles. Rapid expansion has been observed across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions, where the governments have shown keen interest in managing their transportation through sustainable modes.
Figure 3: Total Hydrogen Stations, By Country (By September 2022)
As the presence of hydrogen filling stations directly contributes to the easier adoption of FCEV vehicles, the trend for market growth can easily be translated through the pertinent figure.
This adoption can majorly be seen in the Asia-Pacific countries, where many of the vehicle manufacturing companies are launching new FCEV models in order to garner attention towards the new-age technology. For instance,
· BMW announced the launch of its new model iX5 jointly developed with Toyota. The vehicle’s drive system uses fuel cells to convert hydrogen stored in its two 700-bar tanks made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic into electricity.
· In November 2020, Ineos Grenadier hydrogen FCEV is a new vehicle announced by Ineos Motor in collaboration with Hyundai Motors.
· In 2021, during the Frankfurt Motor Show, Hyundai Motors announced to unveil its new model of 2023 Hyundai Nexo. The model is fully capable of running with the usage of hydrogen fuel, making it more affordable for consumers.
Various other vehicles have also started using FCEV, such as trucks, commercial vehicles, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.
Challenges
Steep Competition from Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)
The commercialization of fuel cell vehicles is still in its infancy due to the steep competition being faced by other substitutes such as BEV. Being the biggest substitute, battery electric vehicles dominate the overall demand in the sustainable vehicle category as the vastly improved ecosystem for battery charging is already being placed in many of the countries as China, the US, etc.
Figure 4: Brands selling BEVs vs FCEVs in the U.S. Market, as of 2022
Higher Pricing to Impede the Large-scale Adoption of FCV
As fuel cell electric vehicles are in the introductory phase of their adoption and the manufacturing ecosystem is still not fully established in many of the regions, many of the countries extensively rely on the imports of raw materials, which leads to higher costs of raw materials acquisition. This, subsequently, impacts the overall pricing of the final cost of the vehicle and restricts a large section of buyers from opting for the same.
Storage and Transportation Challenges
Storage and transportation are some major challenges for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market. hydrogen requires extreme cold temperature to be stored and pressurized in order to be filled in the fuel tanks of the vehicles. Moreover, hydrogen in tanks requires specialized storage techniques which needs continuous supply of power in order to cool the liquid hydrogen in order which adds up to the cost of the fuel. The requirement of specialized tanks to sustain high pressure exerted by the liquid hydrogen fuel is another key challenge that has to be addressed by the vehicle industry in the coming years.
Market Analysis
According to UnivDatos Market Insights, Asia Pacific, followed by North America region currently holds the largest market share in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market, attributed to the high focus of government and vehicle manufacturers towards sustainability in the region. Additionally, to diversify the options other than battery electric vehicles is another reason the adoption is anticipated to be on the higher side in the coming years. Additionally, the presence of key market players and technological advancements in the region also drive market growth.
Moreover, the report also suggests that Europe is expected to witness significant growth in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles market due to the rising focus on reducing carbon emissions. The presence of well sought government policies in order to focus on sustainable transportation well as complying with the climate change agreement also contribute to market growth in this region.
With the emergence of major vehicle manufacturers in the FCV market such as Toyota, BMW, BYD, Hyundai, Honda, etc., the market is projected to mark a major upshift in the coming year. Additionally, this growth is further anticipated to be assisted through government policies that are targeted on improving the hydrogen fueling stations and other allied infrastructure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have revolutionized the mode of transportation. These vehicles offer extended range with ease of refueling and lower moving parts that would further reduce the cost of aftermarket repairs. These features would further alleviate the range anxiety among the consumers in the initial adoption phase as battery electric vehicles take longer time of charging and hydrogen with low fueling time suits better applicability for the long-range travel. However, the market is still in its introductory phase which is assisted by the extensive research and development activities which would be conducive to reduce the cost of vehicle and fuel attributing to the ease of adoption in the coming years. By Overall, the advancements in with continued research and development, we can expect even more advancement in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, making it easier for individuals to sustainable transportation mode in the coming years.
