If you ask anyone what the future of cars looks like,
they'll probably tell you it's electric
and that Tesla is at the forefront of the movement.
But what if I told you that there's another option
that could be just as good
or even better than battery-electric vehicles?
What if you could power cars
with the most abundant resource in the universe
with water as the only byproduct?
And they're more likely to disrupt the auto industry
than battery-powered cars, like Teslas.
Hydrogen fuel cells have been
a technology of great promise
as well as great skepticism.
Elon Musk himself often mocks hydrogen fuel cell technology,
going so far as to call them "fool cells"
and "mind-bogglingly stupid."
But major automakers still see promise.
First, let's define the terms.
Battery electric vehicles, or BEVs,
are the electric vehicles that most of us
are familiar with today, like Teslas.
They use a battery to store electricity
and power the electric motor.
A hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, or FCEV,
like Toyota's Mirai, combines hydrogen with oxygen
to produce electricity,
which then powers the electric motor that drives the car.
Now, when it comes to why people don't buy
battery-electric vehicles like Teslas,
there are three main reasons:
They take too long to recharge,
they have a limited range
before they need to be recharged,
and they cost a lot more
than your comparable gas-powered car.
So, how do hydrogen cars stack up in these areas?
When it comes to recharging,
hydrogen cars have battery-electrics beat.
At a supercharging station, a Tesla can charge
anywhere from 30% to 50% in 15 minutes,
but you'll be at the charging station for over an hour
for a full charge.
Fuel-cell vehicles don't require charging at all.
The hydrogen tank is refilled at a hydrogen station
in less than five minutes,
just like your typical gas station today.
That's because FCEVs
don't store electricity like a battery;
they create it on demand to power the motor.
When it comes to range, hydrogen-powered cars
seem to come out on top again.
Between the three fuel-cell vehicles on the road today,
they have a range of 312, 360, and 380 miles.
Most electric vehicles have a range
under 250 miles.
While some Tesla models offer a range
of more than 300 miles,
they often cost more than the average car buyer can afford.
Range and refueling times are so important
that 78% of automotive executives
believe fuel-cell vehicles will be the breakthrough
for electric mobility.
But that's not to say fuel-cell vehicles
don't have challenges of their own.
FCEVs need more competitive pricing.
The suggested retail price for the fuel-cell vehicles
available today is around $60,000,
which is about $20,000 more
than an entry-level BEV.
That's because production size of these vehicles
is incredibly low. With only a few thousand
or few hundred being made every year,
it's nearly impossible for prices to be competitive.
But that could soon be changing.
Automakers are looking to increase the production
of their FCEVs.
Toyota in particular has increased its
production capabilities tenfold to eventually
bring down the cost of its Mirai.
The real challenge for hydrogen fuel cells
is the lack of infrastructure.
In the US, the majority of hydrogen stations
are in California, with just over 40
available to fuel-cell owners.
For FCEVs to become the breakthrough
that automotive executives believe in,
a vast network for hydrogen stations is vital.
And automakers are slowly working to make it happen.
Jackie Birdsall: We do get to work together with the other
automakers, as well as with, you know, here in California,
the state of California and the industrial gas suppliers,
or whomever the energy provider is,
to be able to site hydrogen stations where it makes
the most sense for all of the automakers' vehicles.
And so that's to try to make sure
that any investment that we make
is best leveraged by all of the consumers
from all of the automakers that currently offer
fuel-cell vehicles.
Narrator: If and when fuel-cell vehicles scale,
Tesla will have a tough challenge on their hands.
They'll have to increase range while simultaneously
decreasing recharging time and price.
But Teslas, and any battery-electric vehicles,
are limited because of the law of diminishing returns.
Increasing the range requires a larger battery.
A larger battery will add more weight to the car.
After a certain point, the added weight
no longer yields additional range.
With FCEVs, it's just a numbers game.
More hydrogen stations equal more cars,
and more cars equal more affordable fuel-cell vehicles.
Tesla has a lock on the zero-emissions market in America,
controlling a whopping 60% of the EV market.
But that's still only 2%
of the entire US car market.
And those numbers decrease when we talk about
the global car market.
The only thing really holding FCEVs back is infrastructure,
and as hydrogen stations become more abundant,
Tesla could lose the majority of the zero-emissions market.
For a technology that's "mind-bogglingly stupid,"
it has serious potential to become a real competition
for the very same customers that Tesla's aiming for.
So, Elon might want to take notice.