The case for hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles

One of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, Bosch, is pointing towards fuel cells as a key future mobility solution.

In a recent technical release from Bosch, which boasts more than 400,000 employees worldwide and last year banked almost $126 billion worth of revenue, outlined its reasoning behind why fuel cells and hydrogen are crucial to the next generation of vehicles being able to satisfy future mobility needs.

Fuel cells use the reaction between hydrogen, air and metal catalysts (currently platinum is the favourite) to produce electricity – effectively charging the vehicle on the go. The only emissions from the reaction is heat and water vapour.

While production fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are still rare, a number of brands including Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz continue to invest in their development.

GM recently announced a tie-up with Nikola to build fuel-cell pick-ups and BMW will launch an FCEV version of the X5 in 2022.

Hydrogen infrastructure itself has been the subject of government discussion and private partnership support, even in our predominately fossil fuel-anchored country.

Bosch claims fuel-cell technology will be best first applied to heavy trucks, citing battery weight, long charging times and “limited range of today’s technology” as not the first choice for heavy trucks. But, says the company, “even 40-tonne trucks will be able to travel more than a 1000km in all-electric mode in the near future”.

“The key to this is the Bosch fuel-cell powertrain. When powered with hydrogen produced using renewable energy, this powertrain enables the climate-neutral transportation of goods and commodities,” Bosch states in the release.

Accordingly, Bosch is developing a truck-focused fuel-cell powertrain with the SoP (start of production) targeted at 2022-23. The company claims once established in trucks, fuel-cell powertrains will “increasingly find their way into passenger cars”.

According to Bosch, fuel cells and hydrogen are “crucial building blocks of tomorrow’s mobility”.

What do you think? And should this be a technology that Australia champions?

Here’s the seven reasons the company cites.

Bosch states: “In a fuel cell, hydrogen reacts with oxygen from the ambient air. The energy this reaction releases is converted into electricity, which is used for driving. Heat and pure water are other products of the reaction. Hydrogen is obtained using electrolysis, in which water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen with the aid of electricity. Generating this electricity from renewables makes the fuel-cell powertrain completely climate-neutral.

“Especially for large, heavy vehicles, fuel cells have a better carbon footprint than exclusively battery-electric powertrains if the CO2 emissions for production, operation, and disposal are added together.

“All that fuel-cell vehicles need in addition to their hydrogen tank is a much smaller battery for intermediate buffer storage. This greatly reduces their carbon footprint in production.”

Dr Uwe Gackstatter, president of the Bosch Powertrain Solutions division, adds: “The advantages of the fuel cell really come into play in those areas where battery-electric powertrains don’t shine.

“This means there’s no competition between fuel cells and batteries; instead, they complement each other perfectly.”

Bosch states: “Hydrogen has a high energy density. One kilogram of hydrogen contains as much energy as 3.3 litres of diesel. To travel 100km, a passenger car needs only about one kilogram; a 40-tonne truck needs a good seven kilograms. As with diesel or gasoline, it takes just a few minutes to fill an empty H2 tank and continue the journey.”

Summarising the advantages, Gackstatter says fuel cells are the “first choice for transporting larger loads for many kilometres every day”.

“In the EU-funded H2Haul project, Bosch is currently working with other companies to build a small fleet of fuel-cell trucks,” he says.

“In addition to mobile applications, Bosch is developing fuel-cell stacks for stationary applications with solid-oxide fuel-cell (SOFC) technology. One intended use for them is as small, distributed power stations in cities, data centres and charge points for electric vehicles.

“If the Paris climate action targets are to be met, in the future hydrogen will need to power not only cars and commercial vehicles, but also trains, aircraft and ships. The energy and steel industries are also planning to make use of hydrogen.”

Bosch states: “One of the decisive factors for a powertrain’s eco-friendliness and profitability is its efficiency. This is around a quarter higher for fuel-cell vehicles than for vehicles with combustion engines. Employing recuperative braking further increases efficiency.

“Battery-electric vehicles, which can store electricity directly in the vehicle and use it for propulsion, are even more effective,” the company says.

“However, since energy production and energy demand do not always coincide in time and location, electricity from wind and solar plants often remains unused because it cannot find a consumer and cannot be stored. This is where hydrogen comes into its own.

“The surplus electricity can be used to produce it in a decentralised way, ready for flexible storage and transportation.”

Bosch states: “The cost of green hydrogen will come down considerably when production capacities are expanded and the price of electricity generated from renewables declines.

“The Hydrogen Council, an association of over 90 international companies, expects costs for many hydrogen applications to fall by half in the next 10 years – making them competitive with other technologies.

“Bosch is currently working with the start-up Powercell to develop the stack, the core of the fuel cell, and make it market-ready, with manufacturing to follow. The goal is a high-performance solution that can be manufactured at low cost.”

Gackstatter: “In the medium term, using a vehicle with a fuel cell won’t be more expensive than using one with a conventional powertrain.”

Bosch states: “Today’s network of hydrogen filling stations doesn’t offer complete coverage, but the roughly 180 hydrogen filling stations in Europe are already sufficient for some important transport routes.

“Companies in many countries are co-operating to push ahead with the expansion, often supported by state subsidies. In Germany, too, politicians have recognised the important role of hydrogen in decarbonising the economy and have anchored it in the National Hydrogen Strategy.

“For example, the H2 Mobility joint venture will have built around 100 publicly accessible filling stations in Germany by the end of 2020, while the EU-funded H2Haul project is working not only on trucks but also on the filling stations required on its planned routes.

“Japan, China, and South Korea also have comprehensive support programs.”

Bosch states: “The use of gaseous hydrogen in vehicles is safe and no more hazardous than other automotive fuels or batteries. Hydrogen tanks do not pose an increased risk of explosion.

“It is true that H2 burns in combination with oxygen and that a mixture of the two beyond a certain ratio is explosive. But hydrogen is about 14 times lighter than air and therefore extremely volatile. For example, any H2 that escapes from a vehicle tank will rise faster than it can react with the ambient oxygen.

“In a fire test conducted on a fuel-cell car by US researchers in 2003, there was a flash fire, but it quickly went out again. The vehicle remained largely undamaged.”

Bosch states: “Hydrogen production is a proven and technologically straightforward process. This means it can be ramped up quickly to meet higher demand. In addition, fuel cells have now reached the necessary technological maturity for their commercialisation and widespread use.

“According to the Hydrogen Council, the hydrogen economy can become competitive in the next 10 years, provided there is sufficient investment and political will.”

Says Gackstatter: “The time for entry into the hydrogen economy is now.”

– with Bosch