The whole automotive industry is researching ways to make their cars the most efficient. This is not just so that their consumers spend less on fuel. It also has a lot to do with global warming and emissions. Hence, there is a race between the top makers for a total electrification of their catalog. Now the race expands to hydrogen powered cars.
Hydrogen powered cars are based on internal combustion engines (and fuel cells). They also work on renewable energy. They are also cleaner to run than gasoline cars. So, what are their pros and will we see these cars a lot more in the future? If so, then why aren’t they in fashion yet? In addition, are they better than EVs? Well, let’s answer these questions.
Are Hydrogen Powered Cars the Future?
It is tough to predict what the future research holds for the industry. However, yes — they could be a big part of the future. According to Jupiter Research, the number of hydrogen powered cars on the road in this day and time is 60k vehicles.
This is a negligible number when you look at how many cars there are in total. However, this figure can increase dramatically all the way up to a million vehicles in the next five years.
Companies Interested in This Technology
The good news right now is that most of the hydrogen powered cars are run by consumers. So, there will be quite the increase in the number of hydrogen powered cars in the future. This is why companies are investing money into them. In fact, Walmart, one of the largest retail brands in the North America, aims to use hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for its fleet in the future.
China is also working to get a chunk of the success of hydrogen powered cars. Its company Yunfu, is working on hydrogen fuel cell technology. There’s also another company known as Sinosynergy, with the same aim. China now controls 10% of the hydrogen cars industry.
Japan is also keen about hydrogen powered cars. In fact, Toyota, which is the largest automaker in the game, made headlines last year when its CEO stated that hydrogen cars are the future — not electric ones. The company is also ahead of all other brands in this matter. Their vehicle, the Mirai, is under production, and it is a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Toyota is also testing out hydrogen combustion tech with its Corolla H2 Concept in motorsports.
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Advantages
With all the hype about EVs, how do hydrogen powered cars stay in the headlines as much as they do? Well, it has a lot to do with the number of advantages that they possess. For starters, hydrogen combustion cars don’t require a lot of new technology. This means that carmakers can utilize most of the parts of their current internal combustion engines.
Other advantages are the fueling capabilities. Whether talking about combustion or fuel cells, hydrogen cars will run on the most abundant resource on planet earth. If the tech works out, these cars will be here to stay.
You can also expect the same amount of efficiency from hydrogen powered cars as you do from gasoline powered ones. There are also many people who just like ICEs for their explosive nature. For them, hydrogen isn’t a step away from their regular gas-powered vehicles.
Why Are These Cars Not Popular?
Despite their advantages, hydrogen cars haven’t been able to catch up to their gasoline and electric counterparts in popularity. The reason for that is the lack of technology that’s available for commercialization of these cars.
However, more importantly, the concept requires a lot of tweaking. For instance, storing hydrogen is still a difficult task. Toyota is working hard at this and has come up with high pressure storage tanks to get the job done. These are quite the breakthrough.
As a result, these vehicles are a lot pricier than what the average consumer would expect to pay. Another problem is that hydrogen fuel stations are not readily available. You cannot find them everywhere in developed countries, so undeveloped ones are currently dreams.
Are Hydrogen Powered Cars Better Than Electric Ones?
Ideally, yes, they are. The reason is that you’d need too much electricity to have electric powered cars all around us. Meanwhile, hydrogen is available all around us. Electric powered cars also take a lot of time to charge while hydrogen powered cars fill up similar to gas ones.
Moreover, many people will just prefer an ICE car to an EV due to its sound and soul. However, right now electric powered cars are at a much bigger advantage due to their tech being available.
