Interest in using hydrogen fuel cells to power larger vehicles is rising as many manufacturers begin looking for electric-vehicle (EV) battery alternatives.
Key Details
- While EV batteries work fine for cars, many manufacturers are looking for hydrogen fuel cells to power large vehicles such as vans and semi-trucks.
- Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, in which hydrogen mixes with oxygen to produce water and energy to power a battery, can refuel in minutes and have longer ranges than typical EV batteries, according to Reuters.
- Many are looking to hydrogen fuel cells to take some pressure off typical EVs and allow for enough use of the power grid without overpowering it.
Why it’s important
Many manufacturers fear that EV batteries are too heavy, take too long to charge, and overload electric power grids causing them to look for battery alternatives.
EVs have been rising in popularity over the last few years as many car-making giants are looking to battery-operated cars to cut back on emissions from gas-powered cars.
Many carmakers worldwide have been creating lines of EVs, but a newcomer is stepping up—hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Interest in using hydrogen fuel cells to power larger vehicles is rising as many manufacturers begin looking for EV battery alternatives as many fear that when EVs become the main car on the road, the need for charging will overload existing power grids.
“The fact is we need both BEVs and hydrogen,” says Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum. “The amount of energy BEVs need is so enormous that I see a strain on our grid that ultimately it can’t fulfill.”
Daimler Truck is investing $16 billion in fuel cells over the next 10 years, according to Daum.
Along with overloading the power grids, typical EV batteries are also too heavy and take too long to charge, while vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells can refuel in minutes and have a longer range.
Since the hydrogen cell vehicles have a longer range and aren’t as heavy as typical EVs many trucking companies are looking to the new tech for semis. It would allow the trucks to go longer distances wills till being better for the environment than the typical diesel-powered semi.