Fuel Cell Vehicles and Refueling Stations

This article discusses the results of an experiment conducted in California to test the possible changes in daily travel with the implementation of refueling stations for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. The biggest problem with converting to fuel cell vehicles is refueling stations. There must be a large enough demand for them and there has to be space for them. It is possible for them to be integrated into gasoline stations, but gas station owner's approval is needed and lot space can be a problem. If these vehicles are made popular, there would need to be about 17,700 hydrogen refueling stations across the United States to meet a large consumer demand. The last problem would be deviations from consumers' daily travel routes, which is what this report addresses.

In order to test this problem, 68 hydrogen refuel stations were built across South California and various drivers were chosen to track how many more miles they had to drive to refuel their hydrogen-powered cars. When the results were compiled, it was found that the drivers on average only had to change their route by 1.3 miles. The best case involved no change in distance and the worst case had a change of 4.94 miles. In regards to time, the drivers lost an average of 2.5 minutes of travel, the best case being no change and the worst being 9.6 minutes. Overall, the results showed that there was a change in travel time, but it was not uncommon of people in the area who were forced to refuel. The average time for those refueling gasoline cars had an average time of 4.7 minutes, but this was due to the increased wait time at gasoline stations.

This article would be a good study to help support the integration of fuel cells. Refuel stations are a common issue when it comes to switching to fuel stations, but this study shows that this change may not be as difficult as it seems.

APA Citation:

Kang, J. E., Brown, T., Recker, W. W., & Samuelsen, G. S. (2014, February 25). Refueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with 68 proposed refueling stations in California: Measuring deviations from daily travel patterns. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39(7), 3444-3449.

MLA Citation:

Kang, Jee Eun, et al. "Refueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with 68 proposed refueling stations in California: Measuring deviations from daily travel patterns." International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 39.7 (2014): 3444-3449. 12 February 2015. <http://af5ss8ab4n.search.serialssolutions.com.hal.weber.edu:2200/?sid=EBSCO:Academic%20Search%20Premier&genre=article&title=International%20Journal%20of%20Hydrogen%20Energy&atitle=Refueling%20hydrogen%20fuel%20cell%20vehicles%20with%2068%20proposed%20refu>.