How Do Fuel Cells Work?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Ron Coogan with greencar.com. Today we're going to talk about how fuel cells work. Most people don't understand a fuel cell is a lot like a battery. It creates electricity. That electricity is used to power drive wheels. Different from a battery, however, is that a fuel cell doesn't need to be recharged. It receives a continual flow of fuel. So it always produces electricity as long as that flow continues. That's an important distinction. Batteries are heavy, they're bulky, they take up a lot of room. In an electric car, your range is dictated by how much battery power's on board. In a fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen fuel cell stays the same size. Range is only dictated by how much fuel you can carry on board. And that's a big deal because in the end, fuel cell vehicles will have the same driving range as conventional vehicles. A lot is being done in the storage of hydrogen fuel to accommodate that. Hydrogen fuel cell takes in oxygen and it takes in hydrogen. It's introduced into the fuel cell. Inside are two electrodes and an electrolyte. The hydrogen goes through one path, the oxygen goes through another path, they combine at the end to create water, H2O. You have little water droplets, that's your exhaust emissions, which is wonderful. During the process, they create electricity. That's the magic. That electricity is made in abundance to power drive motors on board. It gives you efficient transportation, zero emission transportation, and it frees you from dependence on imported oil."