The hydrogen car: an alternative to electric?

How does the hydrogen car work?

Most hydrogen cars run on batteries. They consist of an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte. When the hydrogen enters the batteries, it is expelled by pressure that energizes the car's electric motor.

Hydrogen gas is produced in power plants dedicated to hydropower production. This production of hydrogen gas is far from being environmentally friendly. The gas, when used in the car, however, does not emit greenhouse gases.

The hydrogen car's batteries can be recharged at dedicated service stations that have hydrogen gas.

Charging a car is similar to "normal" cars. The only difference is that the pump has to be locked properly because the pressure is usually 700 bar!

What are the differences between the electric car and the hydrogen car?

The The electric car is the main rival of the hydrogen car since these two vehicles could represent the future of the automotive industry.

What are the real differences between these two types of vehicles?

Charging:

The hydrogen car charges much faster than the electric car. The Tesla P100D takes 40 minutes (which is one of the most expensive electrics on the market) to be charged to around 80% while a hydrogen car, such as the Honda Clarity or the Toyota Mirai, takes only 10 minutes to charge. load to the maximum.

Charging performance:

With a full load of energy, the hydrogen car can travel 600 km against a maximum of 500 km for an electric car, i.e. 100 km more in the worst case, because most current electric cars have a range closer to 300 km.

The price of recharging:

To install an electric car charger it is necessary to count around € 300,000. Installing a hydrogen station would cost millions of euros.

To fully recharge a hydrogen car you have to spend around € 50, which is 4 times more than for recharging an electric car. Refueling an electric car costs around € 12, this solution is much more advantageous.

The place of recharging:

In France, there are about twenty hydrogen stations compared to 25,000 electric recharging stations. It is therefore much easier to find a place to recharge an electric car than a hydrogen car.

Although the hydrogen car lasts longer and charges faster, the electric car has many more economic and practical advantages.

It may be several years before the hydrogen car really develops. Today in any case, it is the electric car that is on everyone's lips!

As an automotive professional, CapCar offers a wide choice of electric cars if you want to finally spend the cap!