The electric vehicle approaching hydrogen

While the commercialization of battery electric vehicles starts slowly driven by Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan alliance, several major car manufacturers are finalizing the development of electric cars fuel cell . ” p> Used in a fuel cell consisting of electrodes and membranes of polyelectrolyte sandwiched between separators and stacked the hydrogen present in the vehicle tank combines with oxygen in the air generate electricity as the only emission from the water. The electrical efficiency is about 50 percent.

Hydrogen can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the automobile, local pollution in cities and dependence on the automobile industry to petroleum fuels.

The technology has reached maturity. Technically vehicles are ready . After several years of development, even decades for some manufacturers, BMW, General Motors / Opel, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota,?. Are run for several years of prototype development and demonstration of technology hydrogen.

Hyundai and Daimler already benefit from the control of hydrogen technology in bus .

In 2006, during the World Cup Football in Korea, Hyundai has rolled a fleet of hydrogen buses.

As for Daimler, the Mercedes rolls of fuel cell buses with the latest generation in the streets of Hamburg since the end of the year 2010. By 2003, the German mark was 30 hydrogen buses run between Madrid and Stuttgart.

The technology is also used in the industrial sector forklifts .

The electric vehicle requires hydrogen charging infrastructure . Currently undeveloped, the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles traffic hydrogen is limited to certain countries in Europe and other parts of the world.

It lists about 200 hydrogen fueling stations bi-pressure (350 and 700 bar) that allow vehicles to fill the world.

at the helm of the future distribution of hydrogen in Europe, OMV and Linde German and French Air Liquide, Total and EDF and others.

In Europe, the density of the network infrastructure hydrogen varies greatly.

In Germany, there are 15 stations for 3 in Italy. Stations are present in Scandinavia. In France, there is no specific standard, in addition to standard jobs of hydrogen in the chemical industry and in the refining or docking station.

There are 20 stations in the U.S. united in the project of “hydrogen highways” in California and 12 in Japan. Stations are also located in South Korea and China.

The electric vehicle with hydrogen will be highlighted during the London Olympics in 2012 with the release of a fleet of London taxis hydrogen for the Olympics.

This will be one of the technologies used in the automobile in 2020. The electric vehicle technology, hydrogen and fuel cells have the advantage of allowing traffic unconstrained autonomy over long distances and require only three minutes to recharge the hydrogen tank .

Hydrogen does not exist on earth in the rough. It can be produced from various energy sources. Its production currently requires fossil fuels. 95% of hydrogen is produced from natural gas . Hydrogen is more difficult to distribute as gasoline, diesel or natural gas.

In terms of environment, hydrogen does not allow a reduction of about from 20 to 30 percent emissions of greenhouse gas emissions compared to combustion vehicles “well to wheel”.

In 2050, hydrogen production could be done with 50 percent less CO2. In the longer term, it could be done without CO2 from renewable energy sources (solar, wind or hydro).

Daimler / Mercedes, Ford, General Motors / Opel, Honda, Hyundai, Kia The Renault-Nissan and Toyota agreed in September 2009 on the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles in 2015 .

In a letter of agreement, they call the oil companies, energy suppliers and governmental organizations to cooperate to create networks of hydrogen supply sufficiently dense in Europe, the United States, Japan and Korea by 2015. ” / p> They can count on a network of hydrogen charging about 400 stations in the world , 100 Germany 100 Italy 100 Japan 50 and Korea. ” / p> While the electric vehicle is an addition to hydrogen battery electric vehicle for long distances, France, the hydrogen technology in the car seems to be deemed less relevant by automobile manufacturers and national the government.

Yet already used in industry, some identify a number of technological barriers present throughout the hydrogen from production to use in a vehicle, through its distribution . They see him insurmountable handicaps related to the cost of production, distribution and storage, and public safety (Mission “Car 2030″ Report of J. SYROTA September 28, 2008).

A network of distribution of hydrogen for industrial only about 1000 km between France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Widespread distribution for vehicles is more difficult and would raise substantial security (high risk of leakage, if explosive containment) (Mission “Car 2030″ Report of J. SYROTA September 28, 2008).

The Mission report “Vehicle 2030″ by J. SYROTA of September 28, 2008 note that hydrogen “probably has no future as an energy source for automobiles” .

Renault placed on the battery electric vehicle in town and over long distances with battery exchange stations in dedicated services. Renault will benefit from developments on the vehicle fuel cell led by Nissan and Daimler on behalf of the Renault-Nissan.

PSA Peugeot Citroën invests hybridization diesel for its sedans and electric technology uses Mitsubishi to its small electric city car.

At PSA Peugeot-Citroen, “the prospect of industrialization and mass marketing could come from the years 2020-2025 “ once removed the brakes related to the cost of the system of fuel cell and lithium ion batteries, the life of the fuel cell and the establishment of a hydrogen distribution infrastructure public.

The production, storage, distribution and logistical issues of hydrogen are controlled by global industry (Air Liquide, Linde , etc.).. The hydrogen filling stations that can fill the tanks of vehicles with hydrogen gas in less than five minutes at a pressure up to 700 bar are available.

implemented in certain areas of the world, they are still awaiting deployment in most countries. Air Liquide states have installed 55 stations in the world.

An experiment is underway in Germany . As part of a public-private partnership “Clean Energy Partnership” (CEP) launched in 2005 for the commercialization of hydrogen as a fuel of the future, manufacturers are testing under conditions of actual use of the fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling stations.

In the U.S., nearly 100 Toyota FCHV-adv , and all of HydroGen4 General Motors are also involved in demonstration programs in fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling stations.

fleets experimental Honda FCX Clarity have been in circulation since 2008 in the United States and Japan.

Mercedes calls for delivery to customers of the first 200 vehicles B-Class F-CELL hydrogen in Europe and the United States in early 2012.

2015, the first hydrogen-powered vehicles should be sold at prices of diesel hybrid vehicles.

Because the price of platinum and the amount of platinum needed in fuel cells, the price of electric vehicles fuel cell is a challenge . Air Liquide said to have divided by six manufacturing costs of its fuel cells in the space of ten years through its subsidiary Axane.

At the technical level, the issues cold start of preventing freezing of water that is destructive of the fuel cell and the length of battery life adapted to automotive manufacturers are processed by the most advanced in this technology.

Hydrogen does not exist on earth. It is currently produced from fossil fuels. The cost of hydrogen production would be about three times that of natural gas. The cost of hydrogen fuel (untaxed) is almost identical to that of an automotive fuel that must withstand an internal tax on petroleum products (TIPP). A kilogram of hydrogen sold at 5 euros tax-free to browse hundreds of kilometers.

To develop the use of electric vehicles to hydrogen, according to experts should be in the range of 500 to 2 000 hydrogen stations in Germany, representing an estimated cost of about one to three billion euros.

There might be some experts ten million vehicles in Germany in 2050.

Note the extreme differences existing level of encryption economic a network of hydrogen distribution . General Motors estimated that between 10 and 15 billion deploying a network of service stations distributing hydrogen sufficiently dense in the United States. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA), the construction of a network of service stations distributing hydrogen in the U.S. amount to $ 600 billion and more than 2000 billion at the global scale.