The Fuel Cell Car

A fuel cell vehicle fcv or fuel cell electric vehicle fcev is an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell sometimes in combination with a small battery or supercapacitor to power its onboard electric motor fuel cells in vehicles generate electricity generally using oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen most fuel cell vehicles are classified as zero emissions vehicles that emit only.

The fuel cell car.

In the view of the fraunhofer institute synthetic fuels and drive technologies such as hydrogen in combination with the fuel cell will indeed play a role but not so much in the passenger car. In most hydrogen fuel cell cars a high power fuel cell and motor combination provide propulsion in place of an internal combustion engine. Fuel cells are devices that convert chemical energy in this case hydrogen directly into electrical energy water and heat. A fuel cell vehicle fcv such as the clarity fuel cell is a long range all electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell stack to create electricity on demand.

Bill fay with the world green car award at the new york international auto show march 24 2016. Jim motavalli photo the h2gurus have been commissioned by toyota to produce editorially independent articles about topics related to hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles. At present 1 lb 0 45 kg of hydrogen costs around usd 14 in the u s as compared with usd 4 80 in germany this is the price the h2 mobility partners have agreed on. Instead it can be simply refueled in 3 to 5 minutes at a hydrogen station.

Fuel cell vehicles fcvs are now for sale or lease in the united states although availability is limited to areas with an adequate number of hydrogen refueling stations. It shares its body and interior with the hybrid variant of the. In the next section we will examine some of the. The vehicle uses a lithium battery to power the car while the fuel cell recharges the battery.

Compare fuel cell vehicles. A fuel cell vehicle is a vehicle that uses a fuel cell to power an electric drive system. Fuel cell vehicles are potentially as efficient as a battery powered car that relies on a non fuel burning power plant. Honda s clarity fuel cell is the only hydrogen powered vehicle available new that isn t built on a purpose designed platform.

But reaching that potential in a practical and affordable way might be difficult. Although it s an electric vehicle there is never a need to charge the car with a plug. Fuel economy estimates and other information are provided below.