Making Fuel Cell Vehicles An Almost Affordable Reality

This article from the Chemical and Engineering News website describes the recent advances in technology that have allowed fuel cell cars to decrease in price. Due to these improvements, Toyota has begun mass producing its own fuel cell model in Japan called the Mirai. These cars cost nearly $70,000 but can drive 400 miles on one tank and are on the path to becoming cheaper. The Mirai is expected to begin sales in April of 2015 in Japan and in the summer in California's select Toyota dealers.

Estimates state that the price of these clean vehicles will have to go down by roughly 50% before they can be successful on the consumer market. Changes in infrastructure also needs to happen and a mass switch to the technology will be a key component to the success of the vehicles. Toru Hatano, an analyst from IHS Automotive, states that fuel cell vehicles will probably not become popular until 2025 because as long as we have other fuels, people will choose not to use fuel cell cars.

The automotive business is also facing a split on what types of fuel cells should be used in these cars. Toyota plans on using battery-like fuel cells, making improvements on the batteries used in the Prius. GM and Honda, on the other hand, have teamed up to improve the PEM fuel cells. For now, the use of platinum in catalysts is being changed and the durability, especially in cold weather, must be worked on before any successful model is released. Interestingly enough, no automotive company has ever gone to Ballard Power Systems, a major fuel cell maker, and instead choose to attempt to make their own fuel cells. It is estimated that these companies will spend about $5 billion on fuel cell research each. Most automotive companies are aware that conversion to fuel cell cars will take decades. Toyota claims that this is not an issue, saying that the Prius was once seen as crazy and is now at nearly every manufacturer's lineup.

This article will be great for the final paper as it shows that improvements are being made for fuel cell cars to be integrated into the consumer market. Many popular automotive companies are working toward fuel cell enhancements, allowing the price of fuel cell cars fall to a more affordable price.

MLA Citation:

Bomgardner, Melody M. "Making Fuel Cell Vehicles An [Almost] Affordable Reality." Chemical & Engineering News 17 November 2014: 17-20. 20 February 2015. <http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i46/Making-Fuel-Cell-Vehicles-Almost.html>.

APA Citation:

Bomgardner, M. M. (2014, November 17). Making Fuel Cell Vehicles An [Almost] Affordable Reality. Chemical & Engineering News, 92(46), pp. 17-20. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i46/Making-Fuel-Cell-Vehicles-Almost.html