How Does a Hydrogen Car Work?

What Does a Hydrogen Car Do?

Hydrogen cars are an alternative automobile design that use hydrogen as the fuel source for driving the car. There are two different designs for using hydrogen in this way. One is to use hydrogen for combustion, in a method similar to the internal combustion engine that powers conventional cars. The other is the hydrogen fuel cell, which is what is commonly meant by "hydroge-powered car."

Combustion Hydrogen Design

Paul Dieges patented a design of internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen in 1970. The Mazda company also developed its own hydrogen-burning engine. However, to date, no commercial vehicle using hydrogen in place of gasoline as a combustion fuel has entered the market. One of the problems with using hydrogen in this way is that it must be kept in a liquid form, which requires substantial cooling. This is generally both impractical and a little unsafe, and also requires constant refrigeration.

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell

The hydrogen fuel cell has been around since the 1960s. It works by creating electricity through electrochemical reactions, and differs from batteries in that it consumesa reactant substance. A hydrogen cell uses hydrogen and oxygen, and produces only water as a waste product. The result is very renewable and environmentally-friendly source of power. The problems with these fuel cells is that they are fragile, have problems with freezing, and both the cells and the hydrogen fuel supply are more expensive than their conventional alternatives.