When will we realize that electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered fuel cells are the same?
We differentiate between ICE and EV. An EV then can have different types of energy storage like supercaps, batteries, and hydrogen-powered fuel cells. All of which can be charged from electrical energy and all of them can be discharged. Supercaps can be charged and discharged very fast, so that they are used for very shortterm storage. I know railway application who use them to charge while braking and then discharge for acceleration. It is the most efficient way. The modern batteries can also be charged and discharged fast. They are more suited for a longer term of storage. Then there fuel cells. That can also be charged and discharged. While charging is a very slow process, it is easier not to do it in the car itself, but outside. It is still a process of charging.
That way, we in Germany do not distinguish between the kind of storage when we say we want to support EV, at least from the legislative view. I know, there are lots of people who does not understand this.
Well, green hydrogen costs about 3-4x the kwh it takes to charge an EV battery for the same distance. At 3-4x the cost, it's just not worth doing it. Besides, the infrastructure is simply not there. If you run out of battery, there are gazillions of options for getting a charge. If you run out of hydrogen, you can probably count the number of fueling points within the maximum range of the vehicle on one hand.
At that cost, hydrogen may never be worth the trouble. At least not for anything where battery is an option, which appears to be just about anything with wheels lately. The Tesla semi is about to hit production. 500 miles on a single battery for a heavy truck. Hard to argue spending 4x the energy on hydrogen for that. They are not the only truck manufacturer trying to target that market. At 4x the operational cost, the longer charging times are inconvenient but acceptable. And even those are coming down.
Green hydrogen (as opposed to converting coal/methane into hydrogen) is a very small market as of yet. Long term it might prosper. But short term, the best applications are probably those where batteries are just not feasible. By short term, I mean the next 30 years or so. Heavy transport, shipping, aviation, industry, etc. Plenty of growth opportunities there before even trying to compete with normal EV road traffic; which is becoming routine and very cost effective right now.
We differentiate between ICE and EV. An EV then can have different types of energy storage like supercaps, batteries, and hydrogen-powered fuel cells. All of which can be charged from electrical energy and all of them can be discharged. Supercaps can be charged and discharged very fast, so that they are used for very shortterm storage. I know railway application who use them to charge while braking and then discharge for acceleration. It is the most efficient way. The modern batteries can also be charged and discharged fast. They are more suited for a longer term of storage. Then there fuel cells. That can also be charged and discharged. While charging is a very slow process, it is easier not to do it in the car itself, but outside. It is still a process of charging.
That way, we in Germany do not distinguish between the kind of storage when we say we want to support EV, at least from the legislative view. I know, there are lots of people who does not understand this.