What about hydrogen power?

IF electric vehicles are at the cutting edge of motoring, then hydrogen fuel cells are the razor-sharp tip. A fuel-cell electric vehicle is constantly charged using power from a fuel-cell ‘stack’. This is a box of scientific tricks that takes a fuel (usually hydrogen) and oxygen, then produces electricity from the reaction between them. FCEVs have an exhaust, but the only emission is water.

In theory, the clearest benefit of fuel-cell motoring is that you don’t have to factor in too much time to charge your vehicle. When you run out of hydrogen you just pull into a filling station and top up, as quickly as you would with a petrol or diesel car. But there are some major issues. The first is how ‘clean’ fuel-cell motoring is, because a fair amount of energy is needed to produce the hydrogen, and it’s just as likely to have come from a coal-fired power station as wind or tidal.

More significant is the relative scarcity of hydrogen refuelling points; despite support from government and car manufacturers, there are still only a dozen or so stations in the UK. Filling up with hydrogen costs about the same as a petrol car.

As a result, fuel-cell cars aren’t widely available in Britain, but it’s not a technology that we should ignore, because it may evolve to become as popular as electric. The simple answer is, nobody yet knows.

“We’ve driven lots of hydrogen fuel-cell cars and many feel ‘ready’. But the infrastructure needed to make them viable is years away. Never say never – but it won’t happen soon” JOHN McILROY

Editor-at-large