Hydrogen Conversion Kits vs. Electric Cars: Reliability Concerns
Despite the availability of conversion kits
in Europe that transform gas-powered cars to hydrogen, drivers have limited
their adoption due to reliability issues. These modifications have often
resulted in less dependable vehicles, contrasting sharply with the more
reliable performance of electric cars equipped with hydrogen fuel cells.
Toyota has developed a unique hydrogen engine
that will run more reliably on hydrogen than a converted gas engine. Still, it
will need more performance advantages than the more common fuel cell approach.
Both types of power have one massive problem: there is no hydrogen
infrastructure, and hydrogen generators aren’t cheap.
Let’s talk about hydrogen-powered cars this week. Then, we’ll close with my Product of the Week — a car out of Switzerland called the Microlino. It could be the perfect electric for situations when electric cars work best: short hops.
Hydrogen vs. Electric Cars
Hydrogen is a better choice to power a car than a battery on paper. This superiority stems from the fact that, in most
implementations, you get the attributes of an electric vehicle, which is an
exceptionally reliable motor, and you don’t get the worst part, which is the
battery.
Much like gas tanks, they don’t wear out —
although older ones did rust out if you didn’t take care of them. Hydrogen
tanks would be no different because they last indefinitely if maintained
properly.
In both cases, fuel delivery systems need to
be maintained, and since hydrogen typically is supplied in liquid form, it is
under pressure, which adds to the cost and complexity vs. gas; it is still
potentially far more dependable than batteries are today.
Toyota's Approach: Balancing ICE Experience
Toyota’s approach of using a unique internal
combustion engine (ICE) is interesting because you get the ICE experience
(engine sound, etc.). Still, you get the complexity of that engine type, as
well.
Internal combustion engines are far less dependable than electric motors because they are more complex. But, if you are used to a gas car, this experience should be similar. The Toyota approach is the best bet for someone who wants that gas car to roar and feel.
Electric Motor Sound: Natural vs. Artificial
To get a similar experience from an electric
motor, you typically have to add engine sounds artificially, a solution that,
to date, hasn’t been exceedingly popular. Both BMW and the first Fisker did
this with mixed results. Electric car owners typically get over the need for
sound quickly, particularly when they experience the benefits of massive torque
and acceleration from an electric car.
So, you are talking about where most automakers take hydrogen into fuel cell cars on paper. In that case, the hydrogen-powered vehicle is far superior to the electric battery.
What made Tesla work is the massive
investment the company made in an electric ecosystem combined with the rapid
introduction of low-cost Level 2 chargers that allowed you to charge up at
home.
You can get Level 2 electric chargers for
under $300 and a good flex charger like the one I use, the ChargePoint
Home Flex Charger for under $600.
With the expansion of public chargers, the
United States saw over 53,000 charging locations by 2022, as reported
by Statista. This expansion indicates that despite issues with the
reliability of public chargers, their availability is substantial, and they are
being installed at an increasing rate. California alone has over 44,000 of
these charging stations.
In comparison, there are currently 111,000
gas stations across the U.S., so we are about 50% of the way to parity if you
don’t consider many of these stations are often out of service.
Compare that to only 58 public hydrogen refueling stations in the U.S., with 57 in California. So good luck getting fuelled in any other state in the U.S.
Future Fuelling: Hydrogen vs. Electric Infrastructure
Projections suggest there will be as many as
4,300 hydrogen fuel stations in the U.S. by 2030, but most of these are for
commercial use. That’s still a tiny fraction of what we have with electric
charging stations today, and there aren’t enough public charging stations.
So, with nearly 1,000 times the number of
projected charging locations, electric battery-powered cars are approaching the
same advantage that gas cars now have when it comes to fuelling locations — or
they would if these charging stations were more dependable.
Still, the number is far higher than hydrogen. Current forecasts have us at 35 million electric car chargers by 2030. Granted, most will be in homes, but that’s still a massive number.
Home Hydrogen Fuelling and Infrastructure Hurdles
But what about home hydrogen fuel? Well,
that’s going to be a problem.
A home hydrogen generator not only needs electricity to power it, but it also needs water, making it harder to install, and it costs around $12,000. So, while you can fuel up at home much like you can charge an electric car, the cost of the fuelling system is prohibitively expensive.
The cost of the hydrogen generator itself isn’t the only problem. Fully charging an electric car is around $10, while fuelling a hydrogen car is closer to $75. Driving approximately 60 miles would cost around $4 for an electric and closer to $15 for a hydrogen car.
Challenges in Hydrogen Fuelling Infrastructure
Currently, hydrogen has a similar problem
with fuelling that electric cars have with charging, but it could be better
regarding ecosystem availability and fuel cost. The only way around this is to
build a massive, low-cost hydrogen fuelling infrastructure like Tesla did for
EVs, but no one is that for commercial hydrogen vehicles.
This situation is why GM and Honda focus their efforts in that direction. Toyota is nuts because it seems unlikely it’ll be able to fund the fuelling infrastructure it needs outside of Japan. Toyota could make this work in Japan, though in 2022, there were only 250 stations there.
Wrapping Up
Advancements in Battery Technology and Range
Records
Challenges for Consumer Hydrogen Vehicles