

What’s the future for hydrogen cars?įor truly sustainable mobility, hydrogen is a fuel that cannot be ignored. This is below the level that EVs will achieve, even when electricity is sourced from renewable sources, because of the environmental costs of battery production. Work is also underway to obtain hydrogen from biomass, which would significantly cut the life-cycle emissions from hydrogen to around 60g/km CO2. For now, though, not having a filling station nearby is clearly impractical for many people.Ī common method of hydrogen production involves separating it from natural gas, using a process called steam methane reformation. This is obviously far less than the amount of petrol stations and public EV charge points but more hydrogen filling stations are planned. According to UK H2 Mobility, there are currently 11 hydrogen stations open in the UK.

However, One of the biggest reasons for the slow uptake of hydrogen vehicles is the existing infrastructure. This is undoubtedly an advantage over the long waiting times when charging an electric car.

There are more hydrogen-powered cars and vans confirmed to be on the way, though, with brands such as BMW, Land Rover and Vauxhall all planning new models within the next five years.īecause refilling a hydrogen car is very similar to filling up with petrol or diesel, it is also almost as quick - it takes around 5 minutes to fill a tank. At the time of writing, there are only two mainstream hydrogen-powered cars on sale: the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo.
