Why hydrogen is losing the race to power cleaner cars
Don’t get me wrong: hydrogen vehicles are sold around the world. But they appear to be lurching toward something of a dead end, with fuel prices going up, vehicle sales stagnating, and fueling stations shutting down.
Hydrogen fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen in chemical reactions, generating electricity that can power vehicles. These cars are frequently touted as a climate-friendly transportation option, in a sector where more choices are desperately needed. Transportation is one of the world’s biggest problems when it comes to climate change—the sector accounts for roughly a quarter of global emissions. There are still barriers to adoption of electric vehicles as fossil-fuel alternatives, with many consumers worried about range, charging time, and a shortage of chargers.
But while hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles offer another alternative, the technology has largely failed to gain traction with drivers either. Here’s why, and what would need to happen for these cars to have any chance of hitting the road.
1. They’re behind
A decade ago, the race to introduce a popular zero-emissions vehicle was anyone’s to win. “Go back to the 2010s, and the two technologies—electric and fuel cell—were very much talked about in the same breath,” says Colin McKerracher, head of the transportation team at BloombergNEF.
Today, though, batteries are the clear front-runner. In 2023, global sales of battery electric vehicles topped 10 million, plus about 4 million plug-in hybrids. In that same period, only about 14,000 fuel-cell vehicles were sold worldwide. That means for every hydrogen-powered vehicle sold, 1,000 battery-powered ones were hitting the road. And the gap is widening, with EV sales growing by around a third in 2023 and sales of fuel-cell vehicle shrinking by roughly the same percentage.
Sales are concentrated in a few markets where fueling stations are widely available. The vehicles can be found mainly in China, South Korea, and Japan, as well as in Germany and the US (almost entirely in California).
Despite lagging sales, some automakers have stood by fuel-cell vehicles, particularly Toyota. “We have had an effort in hydrogen for a long time,” said Gill Pratt, Toyota’s chief scientist, at a World Economic Forum event in 2023. The company believes in hydrogen both for fuel cells and for combustion engines (which would burn the fuel to generate electricity), Pratt said.
Passenger vehicles require a base of supporting infrastructure. For EVs, that’s chargers, while hydrogen vehicles would need fueling stations. So a head start for batteries means the focus has been on building chargers, and once the infrastructure for one technology is established, it can be more difficult for an alternative option to gain a foothold.
Don’t get me wrong: hydrogen vehicles are sold around the world. But they appear to be lurching toward something of a dead end, with fuel prices going up, vehicle sales stagnating, and fueling stations shutting down.
Hydrogen fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen in chemical reactions, generating electricity that can power vehicles. These cars are frequently touted as a climate-friendly transportation option, in a sector where more choices are desperately needed. Transportation is one of the world’s biggest problems when it comes to climate change—the sector accounts for roughly a quarter of global emissions. There are still barriers to adoption of electric vehicles as fossil-fuel alternatives, with many consumers worried about range, charging time, and a shortage of chargers.
But while hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles offer another alternative, the technology has largely failed to gain traction with drivers either. Here’s why, and what would need to happen for these cars to have any chance of hitting the road.
1. They’re behind
A decade ago, the race to introduce a popular zero-emissions vehicle was anyone’s to win. “Go back to the 2010s, and the two technologies—electric and fuel cell—were very much talked about in the same breath,” says Colin McKerracher, head of the transportation team at BloombergNEF.
Today, though, batteries are the clear front-runner. In 2023, global sales of battery electric vehicles topped 10 million, plus about 4 million plug-in hybrids. In that same period, only about 14,000 fuel-cell vehicles were sold worldwide. That means for every hydrogen-powered vehicle sold, 1,000 battery-powered ones were hitting the road. And the gap is widening, with EV sales growing by around a third in 2023 and sales of fuel-cell vehicle shrinking by roughly the same percentage.
Sales are concentrated in a few markets where fueling stations are widely available. The vehicles can be found mainly in China, South Korea, and Japan, as well as in Germany and the US (almost entirely in California).
Despite lagging sales, some automakers have stood by fuel-cell vehicles, particularly Toyota. “We have had an effort in hydrogen for a long time,” said Gill Pratt, Toyota’s chief scientist, at a World Economic Forum event in 2023. The company believes in hydrogen both for fuel cells and for combustion engines (which would burn the fuel to generate electricity), Pratt said.
Passenger vehicles require a base of supporting infrastructure. For EVs, that’s chargers, while hydrogen vehicles would need fueling stations. So a head start for batteries means the focus has been on building chargers, and once the infrastructure for one technology is established, it can be more difficult for an alternative option to gain a foothold.
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