without the typical range constraints and battery-charging times that limit conventional electric vehicles. “We’re witnessing the beginnings of the mass electrifi cation of automotive transport in pursuit of aggressive decarbonisation targets,” Curnick says. “Battery technology is now able to meet the needs of many drivers who make short journeys in small and medium-sized vehicles. But the size, weight and cost of batteries becomes unmanageable for larger vehicles travelling further. FCVs typically have longer ranges, with a fuel-cell system that’s similar in size and weight to a combustion engine.” Led by FCV industry players, the Hydrogen Hub is a cross-sector collaboration that’s researching the viability of fuel-cell technology for a range of “domestic, commercial and transport applications in real-world conditions”. One of its founder members is Arval, a specialist in vehicle leasing and fl eet management. Its seven hydrogen cars are in daily use by its clients around Swindon, where there’s a refuelling facility. “Current hydrogen production vehicles have a range of about 350 miles,” says Arval’s senior business manager, Paul Marchment. “They can be refuelled in minutes, often from stations that use renewable resources to create the hydrogen.”
3. WILL HYDROGEN OUTPACE ELECTRIC?
Hydrogen’s big advantage over electric is the speed with which FCVs can be refuelled – conventional electric vehicles still take several hours to recharge fully. Despite this, the tech has considerable ground to make up in the marketplace. Tesla launched its fi rst electric model, the groundbreaking Roadster, in 2008, fi ve years before the fi rst hydrogen- powered car – Hyundai’s Tucson FCEV – became widely available. Jonatan Pinkse, professor of strategy, innovation and
entrepreneurship at the University of Manchester, explains: “Hydrogen vehicles have competed with other alternatives from the beginning and have clearly lost that race over the past decade. The ‘Tesla effect’ silenced the initial hype around hydrogen. Nonetheless, companies such as
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‘HYDROGEN VEHICLES ARE LIKELY TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY CHEAPER TO RUN THAN THEIR PETROL AND DIESEL EQUIVALENTS IN FUTURE’
Toyota (which currently makes petrol-electric hybrids rather than pure electric vehicles) view FCVs as the car of the future.”
4. WHAT TANGIBLE
BENEFITS CAN FCVs BRING TO BUSINESS MOTORING?
“Fleet operators wishing to avoid future emission levies will be able to turn to hydrogen vehicles without needing to install charging infrastructure or compromising their logistics to work around the limitations of batteries,” Curnick says, Furthermore, FCVs offer drivers a level of convenience that pure electric vehicles cannot match. “Motorists will be unhindered by problems of range anxiety,” he says. “They can simply refuel in minutes at the hydrogen
pumps that will, over time, replace petrol and diesel on the forecourts.” Marchment agrees. “There is an argument that FCVs will succeed electric vehicles in the medium to long term because they offer all of the advantages and none of the disadvantages,” he says, arguing that fuel-cell technology is likely to be “revolutionary” for large commercial vehicles. This is because hydrogen- fuelled systems solve the problem of battery bulk that makes conventional electric power an uneconomical option for lorries at present.
5. WHO’S DEVELOPING THE TECHNOLOGY IN THE UK?
Riversimple, an independently owned manufacturer based in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, is developing what it
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