HFC Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars (eBook)

1.
COMPARISON of
ELECTRIC BATTERY POWER vs.
HYDROGEN FUEL CELL POWER

“Many people either discount hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion technology or simply don’t know much about it. A fuel cell uses hydrogen as a fuel, it combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water (and a small amount of heat) as by products.” (Smirnov, 2022) “Hydrogen will likely remain a niche technology among cars, pickups, and SUVs, but like diesel has been an alternative to gas. Hydrogen still stands a decent chance of becoming the fuel of choice, vehicles face the same challenges as battery-electric models, including consumer acceptance, fueling infrastructure and cost. Those hurdles are why many expect fuel cells to first enter commercial applications such as trucking with its set routes and destinations” (Wayland, 2024) “Fuel cells for long-distance trucking, heavy-duty work, and power generation in a zero-carbon-emissions future. Fuel cells offer longer range and quicker refueling than battery-electric vehicles, giving them an advantage in industries where every minute of downtime has an impact on the bottom line.” (Tingwall, 2024) “The Biden administration recently proposed new tax guidelines aimed at making it cheaper to produce hydrogen as a less polluting alternatives to fossil fuels.” (Hawkins, 2024)

“When it comes to alternative power sources for engines, to the mind of the general public, the fuel cell battery currently lags behind. Yet experts believe that hydrogen fuel cell cars will catch up in the future.” (Nils, 2022) “Fewer pollutants, less noise-these are among the many great hopes for electrically powered vehicles. When it comes to electromobility, most people think of vehicles with a large battery that you charge from a wall outlet. Yet there is another propulsion technology that traffic experts are expecting a lot from-including an alternative to long charging times.” (Nils, 2022) That alternative is hydrogen fuel cell power. “Fuel cell vehicles at large have the obvious advantage over battery electric vehicles or BEVs in the sense that most offer a better range and can be refueled far quicker. Both are crucial aspects in making cars with newer technology more popular among global buyers.” (HT Auto Desk, 2022) Electric cars may be environmentally friendly in terms of emissions, but the mining of lithium and other rare earth materials, plus the energy used in refining, transporting materials, manufacturing of the batteries and shipping may actually be more harmful to the environment. “While the majority of people think that electric cars are environmentally friendly, the truth is that even when they are charging at home, they still release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. On the other hand, hydrogen fuel cells are completely green.” (LaGrada, 2024)

Impact on power grid

Currently there are temporary power grid “brown outs,” in various regions of the United States. If millions of electric cars are hooked up to recharge this will increase the burden on our already burdened power grids. Where will the power for recharging electric cars come from? How frequent will the brown outs occur? Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will not burden our electric grids.

Impact of weather on recharging EVs

Extreme weather affects the performance of batteries. In areas where the temperature exceeds 100+ degrees the batteries of electric cars would be affected. In the upper United States where temperatures often drop below zero lithium-ion vehicle batteries would be affected. The net result, electric vehicle owners might find their cars parked and unusable. Massive snowstorms have hit urban communities resulting in traffic jams where cars are stranded for hours. Gas powered cars have run out of gas. But, what about electric cars running down the battery. Cars are left abandoned only to be towed a couple days later. Owners of gas-powered cars can go get a can of gasoline and fill up on site with enough gas to get started and drive off. In January 2024, in Chicago there were three days in a row where the high temperature for the day was sub-zero. As a result, there were hundreds of EVs stranded because they couldn’t be charged and in some cases the charging stations didn’t work. Where does the electric vehicle owner go to charge his car?

Infrastructure of charging stations

I noticed that a charging station that had 12 stations for electric cars to charge while shopping at a large, nationally known grocery store stood empty. Apparently electric car owners don’t feel that putting their cars on a charger is worthwhile while they are shopping. I noticed at a large mall with over 50 stores there was a charging station for just two electric cars that stood empty. First, two stations for 50 stores are hardly enough. However, charging stations at private businesses has not caught on by 2023.

Recent government action has made billions of dollars available for developing nationwide electric vehicle charging stations. Where will the charging stations be built? Perhaps along Interstate highways, at distances that will be comfortable for the limited distances that an EV can travel on a single charge. Would large urban areas have several charging stations at local gas stations. Will those gas stations be compensated by the federal government for installing the charging stations. How many will be built and how far apart would they be built in urban areas. The question, can enough recharging stations be built to handle future demand? What will be the cost? Will there be long lines of vehicles waiting to hook up? How much will it cost to use government and private charging stations. How much time will be necessary to charge a car? Will shoppers just charge their vehicle for a half hour or an hour just to increase the distance between full charges?

As early as 2004, Former California, Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to revamp California’s highways as “Hydrogen Highways.” J.R. DeShazo, director of the UCLA Luskin Center, doubts the hydrogen highways will ever be realized. “If there were stations everywhere, hydrogen would be an obvious solution, he told ABC News. Refueling stations are really expensive and require significant economies of scale to be cost effective and compete with gasoline and electricity.” (Korn, 2020) In 2015, Edmunds reported that funding from California’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program for construction hydrogen refueling stations at an average cost of $1.5 million per station. (Edmunds, 2015) Hyperion, CEO Angelo Kafantaris, plans to build a network of Hyper: Fuel Mobile Stations, to refuel the Hyperion XP-1 hypercar.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will need a massive infrastructure as well. However, hydrogen fuel cells can be fully charged in 9-10 minutes. One expectation is that hydrogen fuel-cell stations will just be additional pumps added to regular gas stations. HFC vehicles can refuel just as fast as gasoline powered vehicles so there would not be long lines waiting to fuel up. Because HFC vehicles will have longer range, there can be a greater distance between refueling stations. As the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles expand, hydrogen refueling stations will grow together with the rollout of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

There will need to be safety, codes, and standards established for the hydrogen fuel stations. Many of the current hydrogen safety codes and standards are based on regulations of the chemical and aerospace industries. The DOE is coordinating the efforts of codes and standards organizations that ensure the safe use of hydrogen for transportation and stationary applications.

Infrastructure for rural communities

Hydrogen highways are a chain of hydrogen-equipped filling stations located along state and county roads in both urban and rural roads. In time, hydrogen fueling stations will be as common as the current gasoline stations. Hydrogen stations which are not situated near a hydrogen pipeline get supplied by hydrogen tanks, compressed hydrogen tube trailers, liquid hydrogen trailers, or liquid hydrogen tank trucks. Another source of hydrogen fuel would be hydrogen pipelines. Hydrogen pipelines would run from the hydrogen production plant to the point of delivery to vehicles. Electric car owners that live in rural communities will have to travel to get their carts charged and that will take hours of lost time. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will have longer driving ranges.

Infrastructure for private residences

Some residences have garages where the electric vehicle can be plugged in overnight. Some homes don’t have garages, but the vehicle can be parked close to the house and can be charged from an external power source on the house. In some cases, these home charging stations may require extra cost in installing home charging stations. But what about people that live in multistoried apartment buildings where their cars are parked in an open lot outside. How will those owners be able to charge their cars. If the apartment management-built charging stations rent would be raised to recover the cost. The management could not provide enough charging stations. There would also have to be rules for the use of the charging stations. In many urban communities, cars are parked on the street. How would these cars be charged? People often have to find a on street parking space on street halfway down the block. How would they charge their car? There will be massive numbers of EVs sitting along the curb unable to...