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Hydrogen cars soon a real alternative? EU countries want to accelerate expansion

2020-06-16T12:06:21.133Z


Hydrogen is a great source of hope in terms of clean mobility, but the expansion is sluggish. Several EU countries now want to accelerate this and are calling for a concrete timetable for the next few years.


Hydrogen is a great source of hope in terms of clean mobility, but the expansion is sluggish. Several EU countries now want to accelerate this and are calling for a concrete timetable for the next few years.

  • The hydrogen car actually offers the perfect solution for clean mobility.
  • The expansion of the filling station network and production are still sluggish.
  • Germany and other EU countries are now putting pressure on the EU Commission and calling for a concrete roadmap for expansion.

Diesel vehicles have lost popularity in recent years, electric cars are viewed with skepticism by consumers - but the hydrogen car should be the perfect solution to exhaust gas problems, isn't it?

Expansion of hydrogen: Germany and other countries put pressure on the EU Commission

At least, this view is held by Germany and the so-called Penta countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. According to the German Press Agency, the countries mentioned have issued a joint statement requesting the EU Commission to submit a roadmap for the expansion of hydrogen energy . It aims to set concrete goals that should be achieved by 2030 and beyond . Among other things, states require a plan with legislative proposals that they can follow.

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Could more hydrogen-powered cars be produced soon, like this Mercedes F-Cell?

© picture alliance / John Macdougall / AFP-Pool / dpa

The focus should be on expanding the infrastructure for hydrogen, especially on renewable energy . The " green hydrogen " is intended to create a real alternative for combustible fuels, which can be used in traffic for cars and in industry. Ideally, hydrogen could replace coal, oil and natural gas in the future.

Also interesting : premium for electric car purchases: environmental bonus for electric cars is doubled .

Is the hydrogen car really emission-free?

Hydrogen cars, also called fuel cell cars, are considered zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) because the electrochemical process is locally emission-free . Only heat and water vapor as well as small amounts of nitrogen oxides (NOx) are released, as the ADAC writes. However, in order for the balance of the hydrogen car to be positive overall, emissions and energy losses that occur during the generation of hydrogen would also have to be included in the equation . In addition, hydrogen should only come from regenerative sources such as photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind and hydropower or the like. And here are the first problems that make it difficult for the fuel cell car to become a true alternative for combustion or electric vehicles: there is a lack of transport and storage infrastructure and a filling station network for the mass production of renewable energies .

And the latter is particularly noticeable for the consumer. In April 2019, the total was 66 hydrogen filling stations across Germany, in October around 75. By the end of the year, 100 were planned. But fuel cell cars would only be of interest to consumers if there were more than 1,000 filling stations nationwide , as Peter Fuß from Ernst & Young advised the German press agency. This creates a vicious circle, as auto specialist Stefan Bratzel from the University of Applied Sciences for Business explains: "As long as there is not enough demand, it is not really worth building this infrastructure - and vice versa, people do not buy a fuel cell vehicle if the infrastructure is not wide is available. "

Also interesting : Hydrogen cars: isn't electric the future at all?

Hydrogen car: good range and fast charging vs. costs

Hydrogen cars are particularly attractive in areas in which the previous alternative to combustion engines - the electric car - is weakening: in terms of range and quick refueling . The fuel cell vehicles would offer up to 500 kilometers and could be charged within a few minutes, as Peter Fuß explains.

Despite these advantages, consumers cannot overlook one crucial detail: the price . According to Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the University of Duisburg-Essen, this is downright "unacceptable". A hydrogen car currently costs 70,000 to 80,000 euros in Germany. In contrast to the small numbers , the expensive development is to blame . Only when production is started up could the costs per vehicle be reduced and thus the prices reduced. As the Handelsblatt reports, the hydrogen itself is too expensive compared to alternatives such as diesel: it would take a kilogram for 100 kilometers, and this costs just under ten euros at the petrol station .

In addition, the efficiency of hydrogen cars is quite low. Ultimately, only 25 percent of the original energy would be used to move a fuel cell vehicle, as Florian Hacker from the Öko-Institut reports. The rest would be lost during storage or conversion to electricity in the car. In the case of electric cars, on the other hand, the value would be 75 percent.

Slowly, however, things are moving again when it comes to fuel cells : BMW has announced at the IAA that it plans to produce a small series by 2022 and a large series by 2025. The car manufacturer Toyota, which has been offering the Mirai as a freely available hydrogen car since 2015, wants to take the next steps towards mass production. So far, just over 10,000 copies have been produced in Japan, of which only around 200 have so far come to Germany.

Read also : After cyber truck breakdown: BMW with a nasty swipe against Tesla.

Franziska Kaindl / ec

New hope for the fuel cell

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Source: merkur

All tech articles on 2020-06-16

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