Analysis: Is there a place for hydrogen in motoring?

“The hydrogen fuel cell technology could quite feasibly become the fourth pillar of our powertrain portfolio in the long term. The upper-end models in our X family would make particularly suitable candidates.”

Closer to home, it’s not just manufacturers that are committing to hydrogen investment. The government announced this summer that it was making a £73.5 million investment to develop green technologies for 10 projects, one of which is a hydrogen fuel cell prototype project with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

The government said: “Hydrogen can play a role as a viable fuel in the future across the automotive industry alongside battery-electric vehicles. The project will help drive significant growth and capability in fuel cell electric vehicle design and manufacturing, providing a competitive edge in intellectual property and supply chain for the UK.”

JLR’s Project Zeus, as previously reported by Autocar, aims to produce a hydrogen-fuelled Range Rover later this decade. Talking about the project, Nick Rogers, JLR engineering boss, said: “We truly believe hydrogen has a real place and opportunity – particularly in bigger vehicles.”

On its impact to UK industry, he said: “If you think of all the commodities that go into battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, if we can manufacture those in the UK, we can create a whole ecosystem to make the UK’s life better and propel us into a world where we’re not reliant on an oil-driven economy.”

Despite this progress, FCEVs clearly are not where BEVs are today. The predominant reason is fuel cell production cost, which is still significantly higher than that of batteries. The result is expensive vehicles – for example, the Hyundai Nexo is £69,495 – which inevitably puts consumers off (although many FCEVs are leased – in the case of Nexos, half of them). The refuelling infrastructure also needs attention, with fewer than 15 refuelling points currently in the UK.

Other hurdles include concerns over the safety of hydrogen storage and the sustainability of how the hydrogen is created. Splitting water into hydrogen – the most common method of creating it – demands a lot of electricity, so it only makes sense if it’s created with renewable energy.

One clear route forward for hydrogen is in commercial vehicles. Thanks to faster refuelling (almost equivalent to petrol and diesel) and longer range than BEVs, hydrogen and commercial vehicles are a more natural fit than battery-electric. Hyundai-Kia’s FCEV R&D boss, Sae-Hoon Kim, has said: “Developing fuel cell technology for commercial vehicles is a priority for advancing the uptake of hydrogen”.

For now, some makers are only betting on hydrogen commercial vehicles. The PSA Group plans to launch a fuel cell van by 2021 that’s likely to include a Vauxhall version, but there are no hydrogen cars on the cards. PSA UK boss Alison Jones said: “At the moment, we are focused on the plug-in hybrid and battery solutions we have [for cars].”

Talking about manufacturers’ plans, SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Hydrogen will have a seat at the table in the future. We’re already seeing different manufacturers have different strategies. Some are saying electric. Some are saying electric and hydrogen. Certainly for heavier vehicles, it will be a mainstay. We’re already seeing it in some buses and larger vehicles.”

Most industry executives worldwide also believe FCEVs will break through in industrial transportation, according to KPMG’s 2020 Automotive Executive Survey. A total of 84% of players predicted hydrogen progress would first come through transport larger than cars, up 5% on 2019.