Fuel cell cars

Electrical energy can potentially be stored more efficiently on board the car than either in a battery or a capacitor by using a hydrogen-based fuel cell. Inside the fuel cell, a chemical reaction converts the chemical energy in hydrogen into electricity.  Hydrogen is stored in a pressurised tank which requires topping-up as hydrogen is consumed.  This is an area of the electric car revolution which is the subject of considerable research and funding because it is pollution-free.

To realise the full potential of this technology, the problem of cost has to be overcome. A fuel cell system could be fitted into a volume-produced car but the industry has not managed to reduce the currently massive price. Pinning its faith in advances in the technology and the future price of oil, Volkswagen claims to have developed a system that could cost only £1000 more than a diesel equivalent by 2020. General Motors has said it could have affordable fuel cell vehicles in place as early as 2015.

Honda FCX Clarity

Honda, however, has actually manufactured the world’s first purpose-built fuel cell car: the Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). Only 200 will be built over a three-year period between 2008 and 2011 and they will be leased to a selected group of drivers in California and Japan for three years. The American drivers all live in the Los Angeles area where 16 hydrogen filling stations are available.

Since the first Honda FCEV was unveiled in 1999, dramatic changes have taken place in rapid succession. The fuel cell stack in the 1999 vehicle, for example, was very large and bulky. By developing and working to perfect their own fuel cell stacks, Honda has made them significantly smaller and lighter. As a result, the design of the vehicle itself has also gone from tall and boxy to sleek and elegant with a roomy and comfortable cabin.

Honda believes it could start mass producing vehicles based on the FCX Clarity by the year 2020. The company will maintain its commitment to fuel cell technology with the overriding aim to bring its costs down to a level where the price of the car is affordable to a global marketplace. The company has diverted the 400 engineers from its abandoned Formula One programme to fuel-cell research, electric vehicles and advanced aerodynamics. The resulting pace of technological advance will ensure that in another decade the components of hydrogen fuel cell car powertrains will be more compact, lighter, more powerful and more efficient. The cars will have greater range, greater fuel economy and greater versatility.

Honda’s view is that fuel-cell vehicles are the most viable long-term solution and sees them running alongside electric vehicles and hybrids.

Toyota enters the arena

Toyota, however, is planning to introduce a fuel cell car five years earlier than Honda, in 2015. It is exhibiting a Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV-adv) based on the Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle. Its fuel cell system features four compressed hydrogen fuel tanks, an electric motor, a nickel-metal hydride battery, and a power control unit. Hydrogen gas is fed into the fuel cell stack where it is combined with oxygen. The electricity produced by this chemical reaction is used to power the electric motor and to charge the battery.

In 2009, the FCHV-adv achieved an estimated range of 431 miles on a single full tank of compressed hydrogen gas, and an average fuel economy of 68.3 miles/kg (approximate mpg equivalent). In addition to superior fuel economy, the FCHV-adv produces zero emissions while driving, with water vapour as its only by product.

Infrastructure remains the stumbling block

Even supposing that Toyota can commence manufacturing in 2015, the fundamental problem of infrastructure will almost certainly make mass marketing infeasible. The availability of hydrogen filling stations is unlikely to have reached a stage where a launch outside Japan and California is sensible. Recognising this situation, Toyota will deploy more than 100 FCHV-adv vehicles between 2010 and 2013 as part of an expanded demonstration program. Customers include universities, private companies and government agencies. The demonstration program aims to increase awareness of fuel cell technology and spur development of much-needed infrastructure prior to the planned market introduction in 2015.