- No range anxiety and improving refuelling infrastructure
Like electric cars, hydrogen powered vehicles produce no CO2 tailpipe emissions. Yet, unlike their equally efficient counterpart you don’t necessarily have to plan a journey in advance to ensure you don’t run out of juice.
Recharging an EV can take anything from 30 minutes to over 30 hours – depending on the type of charge and model. The average range is around 120 miles but in the real world that figure is more like 80 miles. Toyota claims the Mirai has over a 300 mile range.
Another huge benefit of hydrogen vehicles is that you will spend just as long at the pumps as you would in a conventional petrol or diesel car. Refuelling takes only three minutes and the has government just announced an £11 million investment into a more comprehensive refueling infrastructure in the UK. The funding will see 15 hydrogen stations introduced by the end of the year
- Test fleets are underway
Back in 2013 Hyundai began trails of the ix35 fuel cell around London. Five of the hydrogen powered SUVs hit the streets of the capital designed to offer the same level of comfort, practicality, and driving experience of a standard petrol or diesel.
Since the trails took place, Hyundai has also delivered its first customer cars to organizations such as Air Products, ITM Power, Johnson Matthey and Transport for London and plans to deliver cars to the market by 2015/16.
- Sustainable energy source
Hydrogen has the potential to be a completely clean or green fuel, whereby the energy used to procure hydrogen uses no fossil fuels or emits no CO2.
Currently, coal-powered power stations produce the small amounts of hydrogen we use today but methods such as solar or wind power have the potential to create the same amount of energy if harvested effectively.
What’s a hydrogen car like to drive?
Click here to read our review of the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell
