Disadvantages of Hydrogen Cars

While electric vehicles are gradually becoming more common on the roads, some analysts believe hydrogen will eventually become the primary fuel. However, the scarcity of hydrogen-powered vehicles and the unavailability of charging stations suggest that this technology still has a long road ahead before attaining widespread utilisation. So, is it a worthwhile investment? Even though hydrogen cars sound great for the environment, they come with a bunch of challenges. Sky-high production costs, worries about efficiency and environmental effects are a few of them. Let’s explore the disadvantages of hydrogen cars before investing in one.

What Are The Drawbacks Of Hydrogen Cars?

Hydrogen cars come with a set of disadvantages that raise concerns, for example:

• Delivery and storage of hydrogen: This is the main disadvantage of hydrogen vehicles. Whether the hydrogen storage is in a gaseous or liquid state, there will always be losses during transit due to leakage.
  
• Additional energy input: More energy will be needed to compress or liquefy hydrogen. This procedure diminishes the overall energy efficiency of hydrogen vehicles.
  
• Safety concern: Hydrogen is highly flammable when it comes in contact with air, which could cause potential users to have safety concerns.
  
• Complex and expensive manufacturing: Building hydrogen cars involves intricate technologies and specialised components, making their manufacturing more expensive compared to conventional gasoline or electric vehicles.
  
• Fossil fuel dependency in hydrogen production: The industrial-scale hydrogen production often relies on methods that consume substantial amounts of fossil fuels. This leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and negates some of the environmental benefits associated with hydrogen as a clean fuel.
  
• Fuelling challenges: Unlike electric vehicles, hydrogen cars cannot be refuelled or recharged overnight at home. There are more than 100,000 gasoline stations to refuel gasoline cars. But for hydrogen cars, high-pressure fueling stations are currently rare.

Conclusion

If one is looking for an electric-powered vehicle with no emissions, a hydrogen car might be a good option. However, there is currently considerable risk involved. The fuel is more expensive than gasoline, and building a new fuelling network from scratch has proven far more difficult and unreliable than automakers had anticipated.

If the hydrogen fuel isn't supplied at 10,000 psi, a hydrogen vehicle becomes non-functional. Electric passenger cars are likely to be more popular in the future. However, as both these options are costly, we should look into car insurance options before considering any of these two.