23 August 2017
The most plentiful element in the known universe is hydrogen. Surely this must appeal to the automotive industry as one of the number one fuel options for the future? With mounting pressure from the government to eradicate fossil fuel vehicles by 2040, manufacturers are making unprecedented investments in developing alternative ‘clean’ vehicles. With around 3,400 electric cars now being sold per month in the UK, electric cars have led the way in emission free vehicles. However, as highlighted in our previous blog (will we always be together in electric dreams?), we face some significant challenges ahead for electric to be the fuel of the future. So could hydrogen fuelled vehicles be a better and more sustainable alternative?
A hydrogen fuelled vehicle works by combining hydrogen from a car’s tank with oxygen from the outside in a car’s fuel cell, emitting only heat and water as a by-product. So what’s the downside? Hydrogen is costly to store due to the pressure it has to be kept under and currently there is little infrastructure in the UK to support hydrogen fuelled vehicles. In February of this year the M25’s Cobham services opened the first hydrogen filling station on a public motorway forecourt. Could this be an early sign of the shift towards to hydrogen as a leading alternative fuelling option?
Honda jumped on the hydrogen band wagon back in 2008 releasing their Honda Clarity model to the market. It was the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle available to retail customers. From then on both Honda and Toyota have been hard at work investing millions in research and development. A new 2017 Honda Clarity has now been released with a 400 mile range and a 0-60 mph in just over nine seconds. Currently leased by invitation only it seems it will be a number of years until this car will be available to the general public. It will also be essential in the meantime for the infrastructure for hydrogen vehicles to improve if hydrogen has any chance to be the power of the future.
If you have any questions about this blog, please contact me or another member of the UHY automotive team.
