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Hydrogen Fuel cell Cars of the future
For the layman, the term fuel cell does not do a very good job of describing the device used in fuel cell cars. Let’s begin with this premise: most vehicles are powered using either an internal combustion engine or a battery. A fuel cell is not an engine, and it is not a battery. But it powers a vehicle because it is a little like each of them.
A battery stores chemical energy until the energy is needed; it then converts the chemical energy into electrical energy. A gas engine doesn’t store energy. Instead, an external tank provides the proper fuel necessary to create usable energy.
Fuel cell cars need fuel provided by an external tank, like a gas engine, but it converts chemical energy into electrical energy like a battery
How do fuel cells work?Fuel cell cars work thanks to a process called electrolysis.
Electrolysis involves using an electric current to separate elements. For example, fuel for the NASA Space Shuttle is created in essence by running a current through water, which is composed of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule (H2O). Electrolysis separates the hydrogen from the oxygen, and that hydrogen is burned to fuel the Shuttle.
A fuel cell uses this exact same process, except in reverse: instead of using water (H2O) and energy (the electric current) to create hydrogen ((H2) and oxygen (O) in separate forms, a fuel cell combines that hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O) to create energy and water (H2O). The energy ‘created’ is what gives the car power. All things being equal, this is why the only tailpipe emission from a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is water—since nothing else is put into this equation, the only thing that could come out is water.
So fuel cell cars converts an electrochemical reaction into electrical energy. Understood this way, a fuel cell seems to resemble a common battery, and to this extent they are similar. But a battery already has an energy content; it stores energy
Advantages• A fuel cell is leagues and leagues less complicated than a conventional gas or diesel engine.
• It Is not subject to high temperatures, corrosion or any of the structural weaknesses found in other engines.
• It will, in theory, continue to operate indefinitely, without complication, as long as it has a fuel source.
• it runs quietly, and its sole tailpipe emission is water vapor.
Disadvantages• Conceptually, replacing the current oil-based infrastructure with hydrogen would cost billions, maybe trillions, of dollars.
• Although abundant in the universe, hydrogen is fairly rare in our atmosphere, meaning that it has to be extracted (for example through electrolysis, as explained above) and currently, the process is cost prohibitive and inefficient.
• Its production at energy plants creates excessive carbon dioxide.
• When it burns, a hydrogen flame is virtually invisible; coupled with the gas’s propensity for escaping, in small amounts, almost any tank, there are concerns about explosions. On the plus side, hydrogen is so light it typically is dispersed in the air very quickly.
• On-board storage is a major issue; a hydrogen tank would currently be too large for a car.
• It is a very flammable gas (think of the Hindenburg), which further adds to the on-board storage problems.
Are there any available car models that use a hydrogen fuel cell?• The Honda FCX uses a V Flow fuel cell, developed in-house. It is placed so that hydrogen flows vertically, not horizontally like traditional fuel cells. This innovation freed up space within the vehicle—an important consideration in fuel cell vehicles—while contributing to more efficient water drainage. Currently there are just a handful of these vehicles in consumer hands.
• The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell is still under development.
• The BMW Hydrogen 7 is a bi-fuel vehicle capable of running on both gasoline and hydrogen. This car is not yet available to the public.
• In 2008 Ford Motor Company introduced the Ford Edge , calling it “the world’s first drive-ready fuel cell hybrid electric plug-in vehicle.” What’s in the future for hydrogen fuel cell cars?It depends on who you ask. No other alternative to conventional gas and diesel cars has created the kind of excitement, flights of fancy, and outright dissent and disagreement as the hydrogen fuel cell. See our entry on hydrogen as a future fuel for more information.
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