Why do hydrogen fuel cells cost so much?
Regarding the fuel cell itself: 1) Hydrogen is a very small molecule so it requires special expensive metals to contain it under pressure. Alternatively a “porous matrix” structure is needed to increase the amount of hydrogen that can be fit in a tank at low pressure. 2) The reactions that release energy in the fuel cell are very slow, so again it requires special expensive metals to catalyze the reactions. Platinum, in particular, is a great catalyst but extremely expensive. 3) Each fuel cell does not deliver much power, so multiple fuel cells are needed, and doubling or tripling the cost. There is also the cost of obtaining hydrogen as Mike suggested. However hydrogen can be obtained from methane via steam reforming, which is considerably cheaper than obtaining it by hydrolyzing water.
