Why did fuel cell technology seemingly disappear as a possible alternative to gas/petrol in vehicles?
In: Technology
The main thing holding fuel cell cars back is economics.
One of the big issues with the hydrogen economy is how we actually get usable hydrogen. It’s extremely abundant on Earth, but it’s mostly locked up in other compounds. You can either extract it from fossil fuels, or by electrolysis of water. Which are both costly and energy intensive. So it doesn’t really solve any of the problems it seeking to address. Conventional internal combustion and battery-electric technologies are still far more practical.
There’s also the added issue of storing and transporting bulk hydrogen. It’s explosive for one. It also has a tendency to leak out of its container, since the atoms are so small everything is porous to it. So you need really thick, heavy steel bottles to safely store it in. Whether at a filling station or in a car. Making the vehicle heavier. Petrol and electricity don’t have this problem. They also have existing infrastructure in place.
In order for hydrogen fuel cells to be feasible, there would have to be some major disruptive technology that drastically reduces costs.
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