The fuel cell is a much-discussed topic in the automotive industry. At the beginning of the 2000s, it was seen as a beacon of hope for achieving the traffic turnaround. Moving away from the combustion engine and the emission-free operation of cars and commercial vehicles is still the declared goal of many car manufacturers today. However, the fuel cell is no longer associated with as many hopes in the automotive industry as it was a few years ago. Yet the fuel cell itself offers great potential for making driving more environmentally friendly. However, there are still a few hurdles to overcome in order to exploit this potential. The following article takes a look at the current limits and possibilities of the fuel cell in the automotive industry.
The principle of the fuel cell: How does a fuel cell work in a car?
In order to achieve agreed climate targets and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, the transport sector will have to undergo enormous restructuring. This includes moving away from combustion engines that run on gasoline or diesel. Electromobility is the keyword here, whereby a distinction must be made between battery-powered electric cars(BEV) and electric cars with fuel cells (FCEV).
A fuel cell uses hydrogen as an energy source, which is converted into water, energy and heat in a process known as cold combustion in combination with oxygen. The energy released is used to power the electric motor of a vehicle, water and heat are released into the air and no pollutants are produced during this process.
Advantages of the fuel cell: Why is the fuel cell attractive for the automotive industry?
The functional principle clearly shows why the fuel cell is so interesting for the automotive industry: it enables emission-free vehicle propulsion with ranges of several hundred kilometers on a single tank of fuel. This is precisely where the decisive difference to battery-powered electric cars lies: fuel cell vehicles are refueled at a filling station just like conventional cars with an internal combustion engine. It only takes a few minutes for the tank to be full. This is many times faster than with battery-powered vehicles, which require several hours of charging time.
Another advantage of fuel cells in the automotive industry is that vehicles can be operated completely green - provided that green hydrogen is used. In this case, the electricity required for production comes from renewable energies. This is because hydrogen is only found in bound form on earth and must therefore be obtained from another carrier, such as natural gas or methane.
Other advantages offered by fuel cells in the automotive industry are thelow weight of the battery and electric motor, the low-wear and low-maintenance design, the high level of efficiency on site, the low-noise use and the fact that no questionable raw materials are used in production.
Criticism of the fuel cell: Why are fuel cells also viewed critically in the automotive industry?
Where there is light, there is usually also shadow. This also applies to the use of fuel cells in the automotive industry. It is not without reason that people ask themselves why there are more and more vehicles with battery-powered electric motors on Germany's roads, but still very few cars with fuel cells . There are several reasons for this.
First of all, the production of vehicles with fuel cells is still very expensive. One of the reasons for this is the high cost of fuel cells. These are still predominantly manufactured in a factory-like manner. In order to reduce production costs, the degree of automation in production would have to be increased and production figures significantly increased. This is the proverbial fly in the ointment: as long as there is no increased demand for fuel cells, it is not worthwhile for manufacturers to invest in automated production processes. Production optimization and demand are therefore mutually dependent.
Another point to consider with regard to the use of fuel cells in the automotive industry is that the necessary refueling infrastructure is still lacking . Although the number of hydrogen filling stations across Germany has been increasing for several years, the expansion is still far from being as advanced as would be necessary to ensure widespread use. In 2022, around 100 hydrogen filling stations will be available in Germany, while the number is even lower in other European countries. Cross-border journeys with the FCEV will therefore be more or less impossible. For example: Italy, the Czech Republic or Poland each have less than a handful of H2 filling stations.
The third point of criticism is that the hydrogen required to use the fuel cell is still expensive and only available in small quantities as truly green hydrogen. The much larger quantities of hydrogen, on the other hand, are so-called grey hydrogen, which is obtained from natural gas using fossil fuels. This means that even the production of hydrogen is associated with considerable CO2 emissions, which reduces the carbon footprint of the fuel cell vehicle.
Conclusion: Solving problems and increasing demand - innovative solutions are needed
The fact is that fuel cells in the automotive industry offer significant advantages over conventional combustion engines, but these can currently only be partially exploited. In fact, the series production of fuel cell vehicles in Europe is practically non-existent or hardly worth mentioning. Asian countries are already much further ahead: Toyota and Hyundai have already had FCEVs on the market for several years - however, the costs of the models are currently still many times higher than what an average consumer would spend on a new car.
In order to promote the use of fuel cells in the automotive industry, large investments must therefore first be made: A cheaper production of fuel cells with a high degree of automation, an improvement in the refueling infrastructure and the promotion of the production of green hydrogen are to be named here in detail. These prerequisites only apply to freight transport to a limited extent. Thanks to the establishment of H2 filling stations along a precisely defined route network, the economic use of climate-friendly fuel cells, in contrast to battery-powered electric vehicles, is no longer a dream of the future.
At MackSmaTec, we are working with international partners from various institutes and industry to develop clever machine solutions in order to improve production conditions, i.e. to make the manufacture of fuel cells more economical. Please contact us for further information.
