Hybrid Jungle

For years you have heard about hydrogen powered vehicles being the car of the future, but does a future really exist for these vehicles? On paper hydrogen cars are the total package, they produce water vapor instead of harmful emissions, do not rely on fossil fuels, and hydrogen can even be produced from water though a process called electrolysis. As of April 2007 there were an estimated 200 prototype hydrogen vehicles on the road, so we know the technology is well past the blueprint stages. Why have these cars never made it out of the prototype stages?

There are currently two different types of hydrogen powered vehicles, combustion and fuel cell. Combustion hydrogen vehicles would run very much like a traditional combustion motor that you would find in your car today, but it would use hydrogen for fuel instead of gasoline. Fuel cell vehicles work by reacting hydrogen with oxygen to produce water and electricity. The electricity is then used to power an electric traction motor similar to what you would see on a hybrid car, or an electric vehicle. Since fuel cells tend to be more energy efficient, this technology is what most automakers are now developing.

This all sounds great, so why don’t we see mass production of hydrogen powered cars? It turns out there are some major technical obstacles that need to be overcome before hydrogen cars stand a chance for widespread adoption. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is overhauling the current fueling infrastructure. In order to fuel hydrogen cars, the current gasoline fueling system would need to be massively supplemented with hydrogen fuel stations. Upgrading the current infrastructure is estimated to cost five hundred billion dollars. In addition, fuel cells are very expensive to produce and manufacturers would need to find a way to significantly lower the cost. Current fuel cells are fragile and they need to be robust enough to survive the bumps and vibrations that you would experience on your drive to the grocery store. Due to the nature of fuel cells, you may experience problems starting your car if you live in an area where you experience freezing temperatures.

Maybe the most surprising statistic is that hydrogen vehicles in the United States produce more pollution than vehicles consuming gasoline. While the vehicles themselves are not producing any pollution, the hydrogen gas is created mostly using non renewable energy sources. In theory if the power plant that creates the hydrogen gas is using renewable energy sources, it can be created using zero emissions. Unfortunately, the energy infrastructure is not equipped to do this yet.

While automakers are still developing and improving this technology, alternative vehicles such as plug-in hybrid cars, and pure electric vehicles are cheaper to produce, and will be widely available over the next few years. In addition, our current infrastructure does not need to be overhauled to support these cars. These vehicles are ready for prime-time, where hydrogen vehicles are not even close.

So are hydrogen vehicles a pipe dream? Some believe that this technology is decades off, and might not ever materialize. Other technologies will likely take its place and while the concept of using hydrogen to power vehicles works, at this point there are two many limitations that need to be overcome to make hydrogen a viable option.

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