Hydrogen vehicles – could they really be happening?

This post is also available in: Spanish

In the rush to embrace the transport fuel options provided by ethanol and rechargeable batteries, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have been largely forgotten. But now, across the globe, there are indications that it’s not only the idea that is making a comeback: it looks like hydrogen vehicles really are going to hit the street.

A fleet of 15 hydrogen-fuelled three-wheeler vehicles is about to begin service in New Delhi, India. The auto-rickshaws will carry passengers from the Pragati Maidan metro station to a nearby exhibition centre.

Hydrogen fuel is expected to be a solution to the problems created by the high nitrogen-oxide emissions from the compressed natural gas (CNG)-fuelled three-wheelers currently in use in Indian cities. | Photo: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

The Hy-Alfa vehicles, built by the Indian car manufacturer, Mahindra and Mahindra, are powered by dedicated hydrogen-fuelled 400cc internal combustion engines, and will use compressed natural gas-style fuel storage tanks. The hydrogen will be supplied by one of the largest merchant hydrogen suppliers in the world, Air Products.

The project, run by the Istanbul-based International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET), together with a consortium of companies, has great potential for replication across India. Hydrogen is a by-product of India’s chlor-alkali industry that at the moment is burnt (flared) because there is no use for it.

Dr. Mathew Abraham, general manager at the Mahindra and Mahindra Research and Development Centre, said, “The Hy-Alfa is the first vehicle of its kind in the world. It runs on nothing but compressed hydrogen gas, and is engineered to run with absolutely zero emissions, which makes it a pleasure to drive on congested city roads. Hydrogen is, in fact, the technology and fuel of tomorrow, and is the long term solution to pollution, energy security, and CO2 emission-related concerns.”

On the other side of the world, in London, in the United Kingdom, a new hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid electric scooter was launched in February. The Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter, made by clean power systems company Intelligent Energy (IE) and Suzuki Motor Corp., will undergo road tests in London later this year.

Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter | Photo: Intelligent Energy (IE)

“We see a market pull for more energy-efficient products and there is a real drive to bring hydrogen vehicles to market en masse by 2015,” Henri Winand, IE’s chief executive, told Reuters in an interview.

Still in London, a taxi cab that runs on the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology is being developed with the aim of being ready for full road trials in time for the 2012 Olympics. London’s deputy mayor, Kit Malthouse, told The Guardian newspaper that by 2012 there will be six hydrogen filling stations in the UK’s capital. He says he wants around 20-50 taxis in operation by then as part of the Black Cabs Go Green programme, as well as 150 hydrogen-powered buses.

In Istanbul, Turkey, ICHET has initiated a number of demonstration projects, including Turkey’s first hybrid bus running on hydrogen and a prototype H2 Ecocart. The projects aim to establish or enhance hydrogen production from indigenous – and preferably renewable – energy resources so that hydrogen can take a far more important role in the satisfaction of local energy needs.

So, are we on the verge of seeing the long-awaited dream of hydrogen-powered vehicles come true? An article in Nature magazine – Hydrogen vehicles: Fuel of the future – assesses the four major challenges facing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. It finds that some of these challenges are close to being met, but that others still have a long way to go.

However, a recent report in the British newspaper, The Independent, has Yoshihiko Masuda, head of Toyota’s advanced vehicles division, saying that he believes the company will be able to produce its first hydrogen-powered car within the next five years.

At about $50,000, the vehicle that hits the road will still not be cheap. Masuda said the first model will be a sedan that has a driving range that is equivalent to a car powered by conventional gasoline.