Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have had cycles of enthusiasm for a couple of decades but have not penetrated the market yet. The immediate reasons are a combination of technology readiness and the pressure on manufacturers to sell zero-emission cars. But we must look beyond the immediate. We are only in the opening phase of this transition. At the end of 2023, 40 million electric cars were in use globally – including PHEVs – representing about 2.7% of the global car park1, with 97% still to play for, and FCEVs are urgently needed.
Hydrogen is being pigeon-holed into the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors – those that electricity cannot address – rather than asking what hydrogen can do better. Anything hard-to-abate technically is also hard-to-abate commercially – and heavily impacted by the cost of green hydrogen. In doing so, we lose sight of the need to decarbonise “easy-to-abate.”
Why not look at the low-hanging fruit first to present an easier path to green hydrogen production? For customers, FCEVs offer all the flexibility and freedom to which we are accustomed – rock up to a filling station and drive out five minutes later with 300 miles in the tank. And if you ask, “Where are those filling stations?”, I would answer that they will appear the moment there are vehicles to use them.
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