Expert: The future belongs to the hydrogen

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Expert: The future belongs to the hydrogen-expert

Worldwide the e-mobility wins ride. But the battery does not drive to the climate-technical paradise. Because: the higher the range, the less “clean” are e-cars. And: lithium could be scarce. At any rate, Frederic says in a guest contribution for “automotive industry”. The expert for fuel cells therefore sees the future in hydrogen. Especially in the transport sector. According to the International Energy Agency IEA, around a quarter of all direct CO2 emissions are generated there.

The pressure to develop alternative drives is increasing worldwide, says Ludet. Especially since China has only just lifted the quotas for “new energy vehicles” to 18 percent by 2023. Electric cars are currently considered the best and cheapest alternative to get away from drives with fossil fuels. Critics, including many environmentalists, see the expansion of e-mobility as a “lesser evil”. The materials required for e-cars are usually obtained in developing countries at a great expense to people and the environment. Ludet therefore only considers electric vehicles with smaller batteries and correspondingly short ranges to be comparatively clean – but by no means heavy vehicles like the Tesla Model S, in which the battery alone weighs 750 kilos for a range of 614 kilometers.

In contrast to their competitors, hydrogen cars could not only shine when it comes to sustainability, but also enable long distances to be covered in one go. According to ADAC measurements, the Toyota Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo would each have covered around 540 kilometers on one tank. The second generation Mirai even achieved a new record range of 1003 kilometers. In terms of price, however, hydrogen cars are not yet a real alternative.

In the automotive industry, however, most efforts are still focused on electric cars and plug-in hybrids, Ludet said in the article. However, the problem is that lithium, as the most important raw material for batteries, could soon run out. Because it is mainly bound in magmatic rock and salts, prospecting is becoming increasingly expensive and soon unaffordable. Ludet refers to the Fraunhofer Institute, which predicts that lithium production will end in 2049. The Swiss bank UBS even expects that lithium at competitive prices could be exhausted as early as 2025.

Although the share of recycling of Li-Ion batteries will grow significantly, but hardly ceilings. In addition, the recovered material must be refined. Batteries based on sodium nickel chloride can completely refrain from rare earths and other strategic materials. Until their market maturity, however, may probably pass years.

The new traffic light government wants to make Germany therefore to a model country for green hydrogen. As one of the biggest obstacles, however, the lack of infrastructure is still evidenced, so stranded. The first destination are large vehicles such as trucks and buses – but it does not have to stay. In Paris, for example, more than 100 hydrogen taxis are traveling. It should be around 10 to 2024.Be 000.

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4 thoughts on “Expert: The future belongs to the hydrogen”

  1. It’s a shame about the many millions of euros that the hydrogen lobby has already burned with aggressive advertising for FCEVs. Instead of recognizing this and turning on BEV is again strong again – with misleading propaganda: no word to the promising alternatives to the lithium, no word for steady advancing minimization of critical materials in cell chemistry. No mention of maximizing ranges at the BEV in the interaction of cell chemistry and design. Totally unmentioned the huge disadvantages of fuel cell technology in cars such as highly complex, expensive, maintenance-intensive technology, irreperture (and thereby hardly existing) tank infrastructure. In addition, for generating green hydrogen, a multiple of energy needs to be used, which would be necessary for the same route with a purely battery electrical vehicle. The whole thing is complete nonsense as long as we have an abundance of non-renewable electricity and a vehicle like the Mirai, which sells for €80,000, costs €110,000 to produce!

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  2. Sorry but H2 is a waste of energy, 33 kWh 1kg per 100 km and the 1030 km were driven at a minimum speed of 65 or was it 69 km/h. How much energy should be wasted for H2? Charging is already working very well and the ranges are acceptable. I’ve been driving an Ioniq vFL with a 28 kWh battery for 2 1/2 years. Super efficient in everyday life with 13.8+6 kWh and on long-distance 15.6 kWh for a 500 km break of 54 minutes with charging – the environment should be of value.

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  3. How many consumers need a range of 1000 km in one go and how many times a year?
    representative ? frequent driver? traveler? Well, then we’ll wait for hydrogen. To be able to refuel with this hydrogen on its infrastructure at all corners of Europe. In 20 years the perfect mobile world will be created, until then I’ll fill up my own solar power at my wall box overnight – longer distances with breaks are already not an issue today. Dear Mr. Ludent, by the time the hydrogen is ready, I have already saved huge amounts of CO2 from the world. That’s progress.

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