TeslaElon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors has a long history of strongly expressing his opinions on hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cell technology.

When the topic came up at the Automotive News World Congress in 2011, the billionaire, electric vehicle magnate, described hydrogen fuel cells “extremely ridiculous” when it was raised.

Musk stated that it was difficult to produce hydrogen, store it, and then use it in cars. He said that “the best-case hydrogen cell won’t be able to beat the current case battery, so then it obviously doesn’t make sense.”

In the following years, that will all be apparent. There’s … no reason for us to have this debate, I’ve said … my piece on this, it will be super obvious as time goes by, I don’t know what more to say.”

Musk seems to have not changed his views in the years since these remarks. He tweeted his June 2020 views “fuel cells = fool sells,”  adding in July of that year: “hydrogen fool sells make no sense.”

Herbert Diess was appointed CEO of the German automobile powerhouse in February this year. Volkswagen GroupThe subject was also discussed by.

“It’s time for politicians to accept science,” he tweeted. “Green hydrogen is needed for steel, chemical, aero … and should not end up in cars. It is too costly, inefficient, slow, and expensive to transport and roll out. There are no #hydrogencars in sight.

Musk and Diess represent two prominent figures who are at the top of large companies that have enormous influence and reach. Their words carry weight. Although it seems that they aren’t the only ones who think like them, this doesn’t mean everyone within the autos industry is.

To date, firms including ToyotaAnd HyundaiSeveral manufacturers have made hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles. However, smaller companies such as Riversimple are also working on hydrogen-powered cars.

The June issue of the BMW GroupThey said that it was started to test vehicles that use a hydrogen fuel cell drivetrainAccording to the company, hydrogen fuel cells tech has the potential “long term” to complement internal combustion engines and plug-in-hybrid systems, as well as battery-electric cars.

Although these products obviously don’t account for the bulk of car sales at this moment in time — Riversimple won’t actually sell its cars, offering them on a subscription service instead — that such a range of companies are working on fuel-cell offerings at all shows some see potential in the technology.

Toyota spokesperson told CNBC that fuel cell cars would play an important role in decarbonizing transportation.

They will be a viable alternative to fully-electric BEVs as they expand their refueling infrastructure. [battery-powered electric vehicles]They said,

The spokesperson for Toyota stated that hydrogen was viewed as an alternative to fossil energy in “all manner of settings”, including lighting, heating, transport, heavy industry, and mass transit.

The researchers added that the hydrogen application range will expand, which allows for cheaper and more efficient power supply. We’ll also see hydrogen fueling trucks, cars, and buses.

The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association sent a statement to CNBC expressing a similar view.

Fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen energy, the FCHEA said, offered customers “a zero-emission option with performance they expect and no change to daily routines — long range, quick refueling, and the ability to scale to larger platforms without adding restrictive weight and size.”

FCHEA continued to state that there is a tremendous opportunity for fuel-cell electric cars as well as fuel cell-powered materials handling vehicles.  

The report stated, “Also given the limitations in battery weight and charging for long-haul trucking, there’s a considerable opportunity for medium and heavy-duty vans, trucks and buses as well as trains and planes.”

A wide range of businesses are exploring the possibility of hydrogen fuel cells being used in larger vehicles as a way to reduce emissions, and this is happening even though governments all over the globe strive to create low-emission transportation systems.

In a recent interview with CNBCDaimler Truck’s CEO was asked questions about the controversy between hydrogen and battery-electric fuel cells. Martin Daum said that balance was the key to success.

“We go for both, because both … make sense,” he said, going on to explain how different technologies would be appropriate in different scenarios.

Daum explained that it is possible to say “In general you can say: You can charge your battery overnight in a depot if you are going to city delivery, which requires less energy,”

“But the moment you’re on the road, the moment you go from Stockholm to Barcelona … in my opinion, you need something which you can transport better and where you can refuel better and that is ultimately H2.”

Although the ruling is still in effect, I believe it to be too risky for companies of this size to choose one technology.

Multitasking

Daum makes comments about fuel cells and suggests that eventually they might find homes in heavy transport, such as long hauls or cargo, which can be used to ferry people between destinations.

He isn’t the only one to share this opinion. European transport giant AlstomFor instance, Coradia iLint was developed by. It is described as the “world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train.”

Aviation plans include commercial hydrogen-electric flight between London and Rotterdam. were announced in OctoberThe people behind it hope that the project will be in the air by 2024.

JCB is a prominent player in construction. It said that last year it developed an excavator powered by a hydrogen fuel cells.

It weighed in at 20 metric tonnes. The company stated that it had been tested for more than 12 months and the only emission was water.

Challenges

There is excitement surrounding the potential use of hydrogen fuel cells technology for a wide range of purposes, but the road to mass deployment may be bumpy.

In the spring of this year HondaAlthough production was halted for its Clarity hybrid plug-in and fuel cell models (although the company made it clear that they would continue to make fuel cell electric cars as part of our zero-emissions strategy),

A number of other challenges have been cited by the U.S. Government. They range from vehicle costs to fuel cell durability and reliability.

The report states that “the current infrastructure for producing hydrogen and getting it to the consumers can’t yet support widespread adoption” of FCVs.

Transport and Environment in Brussels, an advocacy group, highlighted the level of competition that hydrogen faces within transportation.

T&E made the point that green hydrogen — which is produced using renewables — wouldn’t only have to “compete with grey and blue hydrogen,” which are produced using fossil fuels. “It will compete with petrol, diesel, marine fuel oil, kerosene and, of course, electricity,” T&E said.

“Wherever batteries are a practical solution — cars; vans; urban, regional and perhaps long-haul trucks; ferries — hydrogen will face an uphill struggle because of its lower efficiency and, as a result, much higher fuel costs.”

As the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2020 notes, it will take a lot of work to bridge the gap between fuel-cell and battery electric vehicles.

According to that report, registrations of fuel cell electric vehicles “remain three orders of magnitude lower than EVs as hydrogen refuelling stations … are not widely available and unlike EVs cannot be charged at home.”

Race to win the future of low emission and zero emissions 21st-century transport is on.

Although battery electric vehicles have a solid position in the car market, firms like Tesla are leading the charge. However, it isn’t an easy road. Keep an eye out for this.