Excerpt from greenbiz.com
As the future of automotive power heads away from the internal combustion engine toward electric vehicle technology, the industry has two options: fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), vehicles that use hydrogen as the fuel source, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), vehicles that rely solely on battery power or electricity.
According to a recent PreScouter Intelligence Brief, in the absence of an infrastructure to enable FCEVs, BEVs remain the more appealing option today. However, this could change within the next five to 10 years as investments in hydrogen production and infrastructure increase, potentially pushing FCEVs to outperform BEVs in some segments and become the more sustainable alternative.
PreScouter’s researchers based their analysis on expert insights from Bostjan Hari, battery systems engineer, through a concise review of impending technical and business opportunities for FCEVs in addition to highlighting 11 technological advancements in the realm of FCEV manufacturers.
How does a FCEV work?
FCEVs are electric vehicles that get their power from a hydrogen fuel cell instead of a battery. A fuel cell system is the heart of an FCEV. The electricity is produced by the electrochemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen supplied into FCEV hydrogen tanks. Only pure, distilled water is produced as a byproduct. FCEVs use this electricity for traction and require the battery for auxiliary operations such as starting or storing energy gained by regenerative braking.