“We now have a large, lovely, purple paperweight in our driveway,” Snell says.
Snell is only one of many California hydrogen fuel-cell automobile homeowners going through difficulties as a confluence of unlucky occasions—tech limitations, rising station working prices, coverage modifications, even the Russian invasion of Ukraine—have hiked hydrogen gas costs and brought hydrogen fueling stations offline.
Slightly below 12,000 fuel-cell electrical automobiles, powered by hydrogen as an alternative of gasoline or pure electrical energy, were on the road in California in 2022, the place the overwhelming majority of the nation’s FCEV drivers reside. (Just one different state, Hawaii, even has a publicly obtainable hydrogen gas station.) American drivers purchased virtually 3,000 of the vehicles last year, in response to an business group.
FCEV drivers who spoke to WIRED report that they love their vehicles, which provide easy, comfy rides and tech options, and had been bought, new or used, at decrease costs than aggressive automobiles. All three automakers (Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda) promoting the automobiles in California supply $15,000 gas playing cards with every buy as an added bonus. Some drivers advised WIRED that their FCEVs match neatly into their lives, as a result of they reside close to constant fueling stations, can rely on one other automobile when costs get too costly, or don’t drive a lot in any respect. However others say they can not preserve the vehicles shifting.
“We’re affected by untimely deployment,” says Robin Gaster, a public coverage researcher and senior fellow on the Info Know-how and Innovation Basis who not too long ago revealed a report on clean hydrogen policy. Policymakers and automobile corporations, he argues, had been too early to launch unproven hydrogen fueling expertise.
Sacramento resident Scott Werntz and his spouse Lori purchased a Toyota Mirai within the fall of 2022. A reduction and included fueling card made the automobile really feel like an incredible deal. However final 12 months the couple started to have to attend in line, generally for greater than hour, to refuel their automobile. As soon as, they needed to have their automobile towed after an area fuel-cell station went down whereas they had been ready to high up. Now, they are saying, they depend on one other automobile and a free of charge rental from Toyota to get round.
Toyota spokesperson Josh Burns stated the corporate is conscious of refueling points within the state. “We stay dedicated to working with stakeholders to help California’s hydrogen refueling infrastructure now and into the longer term,” he wrote in an electronic mail. He stated the corporate is working with Mirai homeowners to assist them on a case-by-case foundation.
A Hyundai spokesperson referred WIRED to Invoice Elrick, the manager director of the Hydrogen Gas Cell Partnership, who wrote that the Shell Hydrogen shutdown will “trigger non permanent challenges,” however that new automobiles, funding, and infrastructure made the group optimistic. Carl Pulley, a Honda spokesperson, stated that the corporate has made investments in hydrogen fueling infrastructure in California and highlighted the CRV e:FCEV, a brand new fuel-cell automobile set to debut this 12 months.
Shell Hydrogen spokesperson Anna Arata wrote in an announcement that the corporate goals to “be extra disciplined in our supply,” and intends to speculate $1 billion in hydrogen and carbon-capture storage expertise each this 12 months and subsequent.
In some ways, fuel-cell electrical automobiles are an interesting possibility for automobile patrons trying to reduce their carbon footprint. A greener various to inner combustion engine vehicles, they’re powered by compressed hydrogen, which is transformed by onboard gas cells into electrical energy.
Hydrogen excels the place battery electrical automobile tech falters. The gas is considerable, gentle, emissions-free and, theoretically, low-cost—enticing to many who despair on the difficult state of the electrical automobile battery provide chain. Filling a automobile up with hydrogen is fast, extra akin to topping up with gasoline than ready between quarter-hour and a number of other hours at an EV charging station. And FCEVs have lengthy ranges, touring as much as 400 miles on a tank.
