Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
Return to PR Newswire homepage
  • News
  • Products
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All Public Company News
      • All Multimedia News
      • View All News Releases

      • Regulatory News

      • D/A/CH Regulatory News
      • UK Regulatory News
      • View All Regulatory News

  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads & Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking & Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers & Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalisation
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls & Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil & Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defence
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking & Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers & Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines & Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics & Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture & Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewellery
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks & Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels & Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Animal Welfare
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Economic News, Trends & Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • Labour & Union
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Public Safety
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • SocialBoost
  • Rooms
    • MediaRoom
    • ESG Rooms
  • AI Tools
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PR Newswire UK provides press release distribution, targeting, monitoring, and marketing services
  • Send a Release
    • Phone

    • +44 (0)20 7454 5110 from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us

      +44 (0)20 7454 5110
      from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • News in Focus
    • Browse News Releases
    • Regulatory News
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
    • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • AI Tools
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists

Fuel Cells: The Need for Long Range Zero Emission Vehicles, Discussed by IDTechEx

This image opens in the lightbox

News provided by

IDTechEx

08 Nov, 2021, 15:28 GMT

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

BOSTON, Nov. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- All major players in the automotive industry are racing to develop and deploy zero-emission vehicles: a tumultuous change in powertrain technology is underway. The new report from IDTechEx, "Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2022-2042", analyzes the role of fuel cells in on-road vehicles. Fuel cell systems have potential as a technology for on-road transport applications that must be zero-emission but where the daily driving demand cannot be feasibly met by a battery-only powertrain.

Continue Reading
This image opens in the lightbox
Top Three FCEV Car Manufacturers Market Share. Source: IDTechEx “Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2022-2042”

On-road transport is a major contributor to every country's greenhouse gas emission. For example, cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, and buses are responsible, in aggregate, for around 93% of the EU's domestic transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, in the US, on-road vehicles generate about 85% of domestic transport emissions. This high proportion puts the sector firmly in the crosshairs of policymakers.

It is recognized that an almost total decarbonization of on-road transport is required for countries to meet their 2050 climate objectives set as part of the Paris Agreement. Also, as important, is growing acknowledgment of the impact that traffic emission has on local air quality and the health of urban populations. Major cities are increasingly looking to ban or tax the entry of combustion engine vehicles into city centers, impacting the technology choice for public transport, delivery vehicles, and taxi fleets as well as private cars. Zero-emission solutions are needed for all on-road vehicle segments and the technology will need to be able to meet the daily duty cycle of those applications, however arduous.

Whilst battery-electric solutions are leading the transition to zero-emission powertrains, the energy density of today's automotive lithium-ion batteries means that the daily range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is limited by both the maximum weight of batteries that can be carried by a vehicle and by the available space for batteries within the vehicle.

Fuel cell systems (which incorporate a hydrogen fuel cell into an electric vehicle architecture) generate electrical energy to power the vehicle by means of a chemical reaction between hydrogen fuel (stored at high pressure in tanks within the vehicle) and purified intake air. Fuel cell systems can offer a superior energy density to battery-only powertrains and therefore deliver greater range at the same weight.

This advantage, combined with the potential to refuel considerably faster with hydrogen than the time it takes to charge a large li-ion battery, means fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) offer operational flexibility closer to current combustion engine vehicles than BEV can deliver. In some applications, FCEV may be the only viable zero-emission powertrain solution.

Major manufactures including Toyota, Ford, Honda, GM, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW have invested large sums over the past 30-years in advancing fuel cell technologies, and the technology has been commercially available since 2014 when Toyota began mass production of its Mirai FCEV.

However, for passenger cars, the culmination of these efforts is the reality that in 2021 only two major OEMs, Toyota and Hyundai, have FCEV cars in production, and fewer than 10,000 FCEV were sold in 2020. Battery electric vehicles in comparison, whose development began in earnest at a similar time to FCEV, sold more than 3 million units in 2020. FC passenger cars are chasing a moving target, that will be difficult to catch, with BEV technologies improving rapidly in this segment. Whilst there are concerns with BEV powertrains around the need for replacing batteries within the vehicle operational lifetime and there have been several vehicle recalls related to battery fires, FCEV cars will likely face similar issues as fuel cell system technology matures. Hyundai announced in August this year that it is recalling 15,000 NEXO's (all NEXOs sold before June 2021) to fix a rattling problem. They have also announced a 'buy-back' program for NEXOs which need a fuel cell stack replacement before 250,000km. Hyundai's quality defects are a setback for FCEV car proponents, given that the NEXO has accounted for around half of global FCEV car sales.

The range and refueling advantage for FCEV means that heavy-duty applications, such as long-haul trucking or high mileage bus operations, which would require a very large battery with a battery-only architecture, likely offer greater opportunity for fuel cell technology in the near term. The IDTechEx report explores fuel cell vehicle deployment in these sectors and looks at the progress being made. Hyundai for example is conducting commercial trials in Switzerland with a fleet of 46 FCEV trucks, with plans to increase this to 1,600 trucks by 2025. They have also announced upcoming FCEV truck projects in the US and orders for 4,000 FCEV trucks in China. There is also some penetration for FCEVs into the bus market, with more than 150 fuel cell buses operating in Europe, 65 in the US, and more than 3000 in China. A growing order book for FCEV buses suggests demand is increasing, at least to a pilot-scale level of testing.

Fuel cell electric vehicles may have a role to play in meeting climate change targets, however, there remain significant obstacles to overcome before low emission fuel cell vehicles are commercially feasible. Not least is the necessity for low-cost production of renewable green hydrogen which is essential to make FCEV both economically viable and deliver the low emission credentials on which the technology is being promoted.

The high cost of producing green hydrogen and its relative scarcity means that it is not currently economically feasible as a transport fuel. 95% of the hydrogen produced today is generated from fossil fuels, which whilst cheap, does not greatly improve the carbon footprint of on-road vehicles. The need to build hydrogen refueling stations is also a barrier that will limit deployment of FCEV to those countries prepared to commit to substantial infrastructure funding. There is also an inherent inefficiency in using green hydrogen as a transport fuel. Because of efficiency losses transforming renewable electricity to pressurized hydrogen fuel and then back to electricity to power the vehicle, renewable electricity is likely to have more of an emission reduction impact when deployed in battery electric vehicles. 

The IDTechEx report, "Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2022-2042", details the current state of fuel cell vehicle development for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, and city buses. The report provides an overview of fuel cell technologies, hydrogen generation, and carbon capture and storage. IDTechEx provide their analysis of the technical and economic challenges of fuel cell deployment in the different on-road transport applications and presents their independent 20-year forecasts for the future of on-road fuel cell vehicles including unit sales forecasts, fuel cell demand forecast, and market value forecasts.

The Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles report is part of IDTechEx's broader mobility research portfolio, tracking the adoption of electric vehicles, battery trends, autonomy, and demand across land, sea, and air. Helping you navigate whatever may be ahead. Find out more at www.IDTechEx.com/Research/EV.

About IDTechEx 
 
IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com. 

Images download:  
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1j3465nwdgg6nhh/AADCtNxQxuiJt-z5T-_q9OKYa?dl=0

Media Contact: 

Natalie Moreton 
Digital Marketing Manager 
press@IDTechEx.com 
+44(0)1223 812300 

Social Media Links: 
 
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/IDTechEx 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idtechex/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IDTechExResearch 

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1681772/IDTechEx_FCEV_Car.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/478371/IDTechEx_Logo.jpg

Modal title

Also from this source

IDTechEx Forecasts US$110B Worth of Critical Materials Recovered Annually by 2045

IDTechEx Forecasts US$110B Worth of Critical Materials Recovered Annually by 2045

End-of-life equipment from automotives, electric vehicles, e-waste and decarbonized energy technologies are rapidly emerging secondary raw material...

Roboshuttles: A Promising Yet Challenging Mobility Solution, Finds New IDTechEx Report

Roboshuttles: A Promising Yet Challenging Mobility Solution, Finds New IDTechEx Report

Roboshuttles are small, fully electric, and operate at Level 4 autonomy, making them an ideal last-mile solution. They were once highly anticipated...

More Releases From This Source

Explore

Publishing & Information Services

Publishing & Information Services

Computer & Electronics

Computer & Electronics

Automotive

Automotive

Transportation, Trucking & Railroad

Transportation, Trucking & Railroad

News Releases in Similar Topics

Contact PR Newswire

  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
    from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships

Products

  • Content Distribution
  • Multimedia Services
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®

About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Partnering Opportunities
  • Careers
  • Accessibility Statement
  • APAC
  • APAC - Simplified Chinese
  • APAC - Traditional Chinese
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Czech
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • Middle East - Arabic
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United States
  • Vietnam

My Services

  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Data Privacy

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via Privacy@cision.com 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact PR Newswire

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
+44 (0)20 7454 5110
from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 PR Newswire Europe Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Cision company.