Fuel Cells applied to Electric Mobility. Part 2: Environmental and Economic Aspects of Hydrogen Mobility

In the first article, “Fuel Cells Applied to Electric Mobility. Part 1: Technology for Hydrogen Mobility” [BM 4 850] , the technological aspects are detailed.

For a general overview of fuel cells, readers should refer to the articles “Hydrogen Fuel” – “Production”[BE 8 565], “Hydrogen Fuel” – “Usage”[BE 8 566], “Electric Road Transport” – “Fuel Cell Vehicles”[D 5 570], and “Hydrogen”[J 6 368].

A hydrogen-powered electric vehicle is first and foremost an electric vehicle, operating with an electric powertrain identical to that used in battery-electric vehicles, which are already widely used. There is no reason to contrast battery-electric vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The only difference is how energy is stored and delivered to the electric motor. In a battery-electric vehicle, energy and power come from the battery. In a fuel cell vehicle (FCV), energy is stored as hydrogen in a tank, and power is determined by the size of the fuel cell, which generates the electrical energy for the motor. To enable regenerative braking, they use a buffer battery; most of these vehicles are hybrids.