Fuel Cell Vehicles Are a Non-Starter

My colleague Jon Lesage just published this article on fuel cell vehicles, expressing his doubt on the course this subject will ultimately take.  I don’t share his uncertainty; I remain convinced that there is no future whatsoever for the so-called “hydrogen economy,” as it was dubbed 40 years ago in the Nixon administration.

Where I don’t have an answer is this: Exactly why are we still talking about it today?  Some suggest that it’s a “red herring” thrown out to us by the auto industry (and especially the oil companies) to keep us from demanding the full-on development of electric transportation.  I honestly don’t know what to say here; I have no proof that this is true, though I wouldn’t be astounded if it is.

But let’s look at the realities facing the world of mobility.  Is it credible that we’re going to build hydrogen fueling stations all over the 3.5 million square miles that comprise the Continental U.S.? That we’re going to overcome the cost and efficiency issues of electrolyzing water?  Nope.

The concept of electric vehicles, by contrast is rooted in some key facts:

• Electricity is already ubiquitous.

• The efficiency of charging and discharging an EV makes it by far the best transportation solution from the standpoint of pure physics.

• EVs can represent a solution to another thorny problem: energy storage.  I.e., we can charge our EVs with excess wind that becomes available at night.

• The cost of batteries and physical characteristics (gravimetric and volumetric densities of energy and power) is improving far faster than the naysayers predicted.

We don’t need hydrogen (or other potential solutions here: propane, LNG, CNG, DME, etc.); we just need to get on the stick and build out a solution that makes the most sense in terms of technology and economics: EVs charged primarily with off-peak energy – preferably renewable.