The daily commute is a real grind for most people, but not for Heather McLaughlin.
In February, Ms. McLaughlin leased a 2017 Honda Clarity FC, a sedan powered by hydrogen fuel cells and available only in California. And it has transformed her daily 20-mile commute near San Francisco.
With no pistons or spark plugs, the car is serenely quiet. Its electric motor provides a peppy ride. And wherever Ms. McLaughlin goes, the only thing that comes out of the tailpipe is a bit of water vapour. There are no pollutants, no greenhouse gases.
“On cold mornings you can actually see drops of water — it’s so cool,” Ms. McLaughlin said recently. “Driving to work is usually the best part of my day.”
Right now, a morning ride in a hydrogen-powered car is possible only in California. But in the coming months, environmentally minded consumers on the East Coast will have the opportunity to join in. Automakers and environmentalists have long hailed fuel cells as a revolutionary technology that can reduce planet-warming tailpipe emissions, which account for a significant portion of the greenhouse gases released in the U.S. After years of development, several models are now on the road, like the Toyota Mirai and the Honda Clarity FC.
Refuelling challenge
The next challenge is building networks of hydrogen stations so owners can refuel their cars.
So far California has 30, enough to enable owners to drive throughout the state without worry of running out of hydrogen, and it intends to expand that to 100 by 2020. Sales of fuel-cell vehicles have been limited to the state so far.
Steve Center, Honda’s vice president for environmental business development, said oil companies and others were also showing interest in adding hydrogen fuelling stations on the East Coast. “What we want to see is clusters of fuelling stations in the cities, and then connectors in corridors between the big cities so you have fuelling between Boston, New York, Washington,” he said.
California has had an advantage because it is a large state with a government committed to supporting zero-emissions technologies. “In the Northeast, you have different states under different leadership, so it’s a little tougher to get a unifying plan,” Mr. Center said.
The automakers say they plan to continue to push ahead with fuel-cell technology even if the Trump administration pulls back federal support for advanced-technology cars. The companies believe that they will be required, within a decade or two, to produce large numbers of cars and trucks that release nothing into the atmosphere in most markets around the world.
“We know the end game is zero emissions,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors’ executive vice president for global product development.
Fuel cells operate by setting off a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The two elements bond, creating an electric charge. Stack a few hundred cells together, and they can generate enough electricity to power a car motor.
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, if they take off, could offer advantages over the battery-powered cars on the road now, like the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf. Electric vehicles need to be recharged, sometimes for a few hours, when their batteries run down. While the Chevrolet Bolt is said to go 238 miles before needing to recharge, others are more limited. A version of the Clarity powered by batteries goes just 80 miles on a single charge. By comparison, the Clarity FC — the fuel-cell version — can go 366 miles on a full tank.
The Clarity FC is a four-door sedan, the same size as a Honda Accord. It was designed from the ground up for an electric powertrain, which enabled Honda to create more interior space while fitting in two nearly indestructible hydrogen tanks.
Refuelling the Clarity and the Mirai is virtually the same process as filling a car with gasoline.
In California, owners pull up to what looks like a normal fuel pump. The fuelling hose clicks into the car’s intake port, and hydrogen gas is forced into the tanks. It all takes 3-5 minutes. Most of the hydrogen pumps in California are at existing gas stations. The state recently provided $32 million to fund the construction of 15 additional fuelling stations. So far, Toyota is in the lead in sales, having sold about 1,400 Mirais. The company expects sales to exceed 3,000 by year’s end. Honda started selling the Clarity this year and has delivered about 100. Hyundai has also leased a small number of fuel-cell versions of its Tucson SUV in Southern California.
Michigan plant
In a bid to cut the cost of fuel-cell systems, GM and Honda are setting up a plant in Michigan to mass-produce fuel-cell systems that both firms will use in future hydrogen-powered vehicles.
By pooling resources, the firms hope they can quickly boost production and pare costs. NYT
