How would a fuel cell-powered car compare to one powered by a battery?
Fuel cell and battery-powered vehicles are both propelled by an electric motors. Therefore, both vehicle types can be designed with similar performance characteristics. The primary difference in these vehicle types is the source of electricity. Battery-electric vehicles are powered by electricity stored in a battery. Since the battery merely stores energy instead of generating it, it must be recharged regularly. Fuel cells, on the other hand, create electricity from hydrogen or some other fuel. Like gasoline-powered vehicles, fuel cell vehicles are refueled rather than recharged-refueling usually takes much less time than recharging. Fuel cell vehicles can typically go further before refueling due to the storage limitations of current battery designs. However, both technologies need to improve their driving ranges in order to compete with gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles.
Fuel cell automobiles are an attractive advance from battery-powered cars. They offer the advantages of battery-powered vehicles but can also be refueled quickly and could go longer between refuelings. Fuel cells utilizing hydrogen as a fuel would be zero emission vehicles, and those using other fuels would produce near-zero emissions. They are also more efficient than “grid”-powered battery vehicles. In addition, fuel cell cars could produce fewer “system-wide” releases of greenhouse gases — taking into account all emissions associated with resource recovery, fuel processing and use. Studies by General Motors and Ford noted that fuel cell car engines could be built for about the same price as an internal combustion engine.
