QOTD: Will Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles Ever Hit the Market?

by Tim Healey

Published: July 15th, 2024

qotd will hydrogen fuel cell vehicles ever hit the market

I've been in the automotive media since 2007 and a car enthusiast for long before that, and I've been hearing about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles for as long as I can remember. I've even driven one.

Yet, unless you live in California, you still can't get one.

Will they ever be on our roads en masse?

A group of Toyota Mirai owners/lessees are suing the automaker in part because they believe there aren't enough stations for refueling, and in part because the range between fill-ups is alleged to be less than what Toyota promised.

The whole story is worth the read, but it also serves as a jumping off point for me to ponder if hydrogen fuel-cell cars will ever be on the market in large numbers.

I know why they aren't now, so please don't remind me of that. I am asking you if the challenges that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles face now can be solved in the near term.

Before I turn it over to y'all, I will say that my short time piloting a Hyundai Nexo on a closed course was interesting -- the Nexo drove essentially like an EV. Hydrogen fuel-cell cars have some of the same advantages of EVs and there's an argument to be made that it might be easier to built out hydrogen refilling infrastructure than EV charging infrastructure. Emphasis on "might".

What do you think? Sound off below.

[image: Toyota]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 26 comments

SCE to AUX on Jul 16, 2024
"...there's an argument to be made that it might be easier to built out hydrogen refilling infrastructure than EV charging infrastructure". Not a chance. Hydrogen needs to be highly pressurized and trucked to each location, and stored that way until it passes through a fuel cell. Electricity is everywhere in this country, and getting three wires to the point of use was accomplished over a century ago.

3 Reply
ToolGuy on Jul 16, 2024
⛽️Bought gasoline yesterday (one of my trucks), need to buy more today (one of my cars). Put it off until now because of the July 4 thing where all the successful people leave home and the oil company executives take advantage. Anyway, was motivated to go out to cargurus dot com and peruse the available choices in the 'EV space.' 👍️ Good news: More brands and models becoming available as used. 👎️ Bad news: Most of the desirable ones are still way out of my preferred price range. (Reminder: sweet spot for the used tax credit is $13,333 to $24,999.) ❓️❓️❓️ QUESTION: When is that EV market crash gonna happen? 💲 Because I need to know when to have my little pile of money ready to go. Thanks in advance. 🏷️ By the way, all of you winners with your nice new 2024 ICE vehicles, I see you out there driving. Your cars are very attractive and well built and you are really excellent drivers and I'm sure your future is bright. No, I do not want to purchase your vehicle from you, not now, not ever, but thanks. I have enough ICE heartache parked in my driveway already. (Also, great website! The latest revisions are magnificent.)

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- JMII on Jul 16, 2024
  Used Teslas Model 3s are selling on average for $25k, Model S and Y are $33k per Car Gurus. Now whether these vehicles are "desirable" is up for debate.
  
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