The Prius turned out to be a good bet for Toyota. But proponents of the fuel say hydrogen is no more dangerous than gas or electricity if handled properly. It’s projected to climb to between 9 million-20 million by 2020.Hydrogen explosions during the 2011 nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima are a more recent example of such hazards. Unlike a gas-powered internal combustion engine, the wholesale GEL batteries only by-products from a fuel cell are electricity, heat and water.The Hydrogen Council, made up of 28 companies that are promoting hydrogen fuel, said in a report this week that it expects hydrogen to power about 10 to 15 million cars and 500,000 trucks by 2030. Air Liquide has been working on producing, storing and distributing hydrogen fuel for more than four decades.
The big moment on the assembly line comes when two bulbous yellow tanks of hydrogen are rolled over and delicately fitted into each car’s underside.”“Winners could become losers, and losers could become winners. Hydrogen fuel cells don’t suffer the EVs’ main drawback of limited range.“In this light, hydrogen holds tremendous potential,” Uchiyamada, known as “the father of the Prius,” the world’s top-selling hybrid car, said during a tour of the factory. It also forecasts it will be widely used for industries, heating and power and power storage. It’s still anyone’s game,” Kino said.“If we are talking about a form of great energy like hydrogen, then why not just go all the way to a nuclear car?” said Satou, whose company leads in EV sales with its popular Leaf compact. Toyota sells about 10 million vehicles a year around the world. Regular charging can take hours. And electric vehicles usually take hours to charge.
Fuel cell vehicles are scarcely a presence.“Hydrogen doesn’t exist in the natural world on its own, but you can create hydrogen from various materials,” he said. The Tesla Model S can go about 300 miles (480 kilometres) on a single charge, although that varies depending on driving conditions, and that’s quite a distance for an EV. Ultimately, the idea is to convert energy from renewables like wind and solar power into hydrogen, or even make hydrogen from sewage waste. Detroit-based General Motors Co. Still, the company’s goal is to sell 30,000 fuel-cell vehicles a year by about 2020. Hydrogen is viewed as potentially hazardous: the 1937 Hindenberg disaster, when 36 people died when the hydrogen-fuelled airship caught fire and crashed, ended an earlier era of hydrogen-powered passenger travel.