Goodbye hydrogen fuel cell, hello 150 miles per gallon
The car of the future… today
Jeff Valdivia, Volunteer Staff
“For the next 10 or 15 years, the potential numbers of [fuel-cell powered] cars on the road is going to be very, very, very, very small,” said John Sheridan, the CEO of Ballard of Power Systems, Inc., one of the world’s best-known developers of fuel-cell technology for cars. He’s right, who’s going to want to spend a million dollars on hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicle? But, the drive to produce hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles has never been about price — it’s always been about the environment.
Hydrogen fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity, which can then be used to power a vehicle. They are environmentally friendly because they produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions and their exhaust is mostly water.
While hydrogen has long been touted as the fuel to power a “green” economy, the methods used to manufacture usable hydrogen are not so environmentally friendly. Transportation-grade hydrogen is typically manufactured from fossil fuels, such as gasoline and natural gas,but can also be produced using electricity. This means that hydrogen use in vehicles is only as environmentally friendly as the method used to produce the hydrogen in the first place.
Unfortunately, hydrogen’s problems do not end there. According to Manitoba Hydro, “[T]he hypothetical advantage of fuel cells is quickly lost in a complex chain of water pumps, electrolyzers, reformers, hydrogen compressors, piping, storage tanks, air compressors, ice management systems, radiators, and so on. These are needed to manufacture the hydrogen from other sources of energy, deliver it to the vehicle, and process the waste — water — which is tricky in winter.” In the end, hydrogen fuel cells are less energy efficient than regular gasoline powered internal combustion engines. So, is there an alternative? Thankfully, yes: batteries.
We all remember when California tried to implement the electric car but failed to successfully do so. And according to the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, this wasn’t the fault of batteries.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), are nearly ready to replace ordinary cars and hybrids on the road. A PHEV is a plug-in battery electric vehicle that also has an internal combustion engine to improve range, performance, or both. These vehicles offer environmentally friendly battery power without having to give up the benefits of gasoline powered cars, such as the ability to refuel quickly.
Batteries are over 90 per cent energy efficient which is about four times the energy efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells. Higher efficiencies mean lower operation costs and a lower environmental impact. Current battery packs can be expected to last between 10 and 15 years. In contrast, hydrogen fuel cells will typically operate in vehicles for only 2.5 years.
PHEVs still must deal with the typical disadvantages associated with batteries. For instance, reasonably priced and up-to-date battery technologies would allow a vehicle to operate solely off of battery power for only between 30 and 60 miles. Still, most North Americans drive within this range on average per day.
A reasonably priced PHEV, using a 120-volt outlet can be recharged overnight typically within six to eight hours. However, new battery technologies may soon make it possible to recharge car batteries in one to 15 minutes, making charging stations similar to gasoline stations feasible.
Or you could just buy the fully electric Tesla Roadster: zero to 60 mph in under four seconds, top speed of 210 kilometres per hour, 394-kilometre range per charge, charging time of 3.5 hours, and an equivalent 135 miles per gallon. The only catch is that it’s $100,000. Still, it’s one-tenth the price of a hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicle. Electric vehicles can only get better from here.
Unfortunately, battery technologies are not yet at the point where they can be affordably mass marketed in vehicles on their own. PHEVs provide the perfect step between internal combustion engines and electric vehicles. PHEVs will cause an increase in demand for batteries, lowering their cost and increasing their performance.
In 2006, Manitoba Hydro converted a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicle into a PHEV. This vehicle can operate solely on electricity for up to 50 kilometres going at speeds under 55 kilometres per hour. At higher speeds, the internal combustion engine and electric engine work together. In the gasoline-electric mode, Manitoba Hydro has found that this vehicle typically gets in the range of 57-64 kilometres per litre, which is equivalent to 134-150 miles per U.S. gallon.
The biggest advantage of PHEVs over hydrogen fuel cells, though, is that no infrastructure changes must be made to accommodate PHEVs, particularly in Manitoba. Here, we already have outlets to heat our cars in winter throughout the city. On the other hand, creating the new infrastructure necessary to use hydrogen in vehicles around the continent would be prohibitively expensive.
While there are assuredly applications in which the use of hydrogen fuel cells is advantageous, the car is not one of them. At this time, emerging battery technology is looking very promising for use in affordable plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Jeff Valdivia is a master’s student studying at the Natural Resources Institute. Jeff has an undergraduate degree in philosophy.
