Interesting Facts About Hydrogen Cars

Most hydrogen cars are experimental or demonstration models.

Automakers and research engineers are constantly searching for new, innovative ways of powering cars. Among all of the alternative-fuel vehicles that are developed, cars that use hydrogen fuel are among the most promising. They offer an environmentally sustainable power source, but also face challenges before they can be implemented on a mass scale.

Internal Combustion Engines

One category of hydrogen-powered cars uses internal combustion engines. These engines are similar in many ways to conventional gasoline engines. However, instead of gas, they use compressed liquid hydrogen as a fuel, blending it with oxygen from the air. A spark ignites the hydrogen and produces the engine's power stroke.

Fuel Cell Cars

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are very different from the internal combustion engine designs. These vehicles include a hydrogen fuel cell consisting of a stack of fuel cell chambers. Hydrogen gas flows through the chambers and reacts with an electrolyte, passing off electrons that flow into a battery pack. This powers an electric motor to drive the car.

Advantages

One of the key advantages of both types of hydrogen cars is that they allow drivers to operate their vehicles without any reliance on fossil fuels. Hydrogen is very abundant and present in huge quantities around the world. This removes the need for crude oil from unstable regions and also leads to greater price stability. In the case of hydrogen fuel cell cars, the by-product of the fuel cell is pure water vapor, meaning that these cars produce no harmful carbon emissions.

Costs

One challenge facing the designers and promoters of hydrogen-powered cars is the high cost of hydrogen technology. Besides the cost of developing and testing hydrogen-burning engines and high-output fuel cells, there are also costs associated with the production of hydrogen fuel itself. Separating hydrogen atoms from other substances is an energy-intensive process that negates some of the energy savings from avoiding conventional car fuels.

Fuel Distribution

Besides cost, hydrogen cars have additional disadvantages. Chief among these is the lack of a widespread infrastructure for delivering hydrogen fuel. Unlike gasoline and electrical outlets, which are readily available, hydrogen fueling stations are few and far between, limiting where (and how far) hydrogen car drivers can travel. Automakers have taken note of this problem. For example, Honda's FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, which began leasing in 2010, is primarily available in Southern California, where hydrogen stations are somewhat more common.

References

• Hydrogen Cars Now: Hydrogen Fuel Cars
• MSNBC: Hydrogen cars ready to roll --- for a price
• Honda FCX Clarity Overview

Resources

• Hydrogen Car Info: Going Green with Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Cars