Fuels may come and the fuels may go, but automotive should run forever – says a guy who loves these complex machines. There was a time when fossil fuels were available in abundance. But now, the times have changed. The prices are skyrocketing and the reserves are depleting. In this scenario, we must look for a viable solution. One may say, electric vehicles, but the range anxiety? Some might say, CNG, but performance? I will say, hydrogen fuel cell! And why not! Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why I think Hydrogen is the fuel of the future. Welcome to my 2-cents.
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Range Anxiety, what is that?
An EV on average can return a mileage of around 300-400kms on a single charge. A hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle on the other hand can possibly have a range of over 600kms. Now that is much more than an EV which makes it a viable option.
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Water: The Only Emission!
CNG emission is considered to be one of the cleanest at present in large scale fuels. It does emit hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen. Producing electricity to charge an EV currently depends upon fossil fuels widely in India. As far as Hydrogen fuel is concerned, the only emission that it has is water! That’s it. So, why not?
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Time to refill
An EV normally takes 6-8 hours to charge completely. Well, a hydrogen fuel cell-powered car will take hardly 5 minutes and deliver you the required range. Not as fast as the gasoline counterpart, but what will you refill if there’s no gasoline left?
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Easier storage and transportation
Hydrogen is one of the most flammable substances on the periodic table. But apart from that, if done right, it is really easy to store hydrogen gas as well as shipping it is also easy. Companies like Hyundai have already showcased how hydrogen can be safely used in a vehicle in their car called the NEXO.
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Companies are already working towards making Hydrogen economical and Viable
Indian Oil Corporation Limited or IOCL is already working on ramping up the hydrogen supply and reducing the carbon footprint of the production of hydrogen. IOCL is also working on making it more viable. Hyundai has been constantly working on making hydrogen fuel-powered mobility safer and viable.
In short, hydrogen is surely the fuel for a better future. Now that Tony Stark is dead (cries in the corner), we cannot expect arc reactor powered cars! Nuclear powered cars, even a thought of what happened to Hiroshima & Nagasaki or the Chernobyl saga will let you keep this alternative out of the picture. CNG, well it has been around for a long time but we all know that it is still restricted to some limitation. This leaves us with electric or hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars. What do you think? Do let us know in the comments section below.
