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Fuel cells generate electricity to drive electric motors

Posted by Feanor (A) on December 3, 2023 at 09:25:07

In Reply to: They already are - close to it posted by Victor Khomenko on December 3, 2023 at 07:08:03:

So fuel cell vehicles are EVs. So fuel cells versus batteries comes down to which produces electricity more efficiently and in the more carbon-neutral manner.

Batteries are terrible in terms of energy density so, in concept at least, a fuel cell fuel might be found to deliver more energy density. But there are two aspects to energy density: gravimetric, energy per weight, and volumetric, energy per volume.

Hydrogen is a fuel cell candidate; "green" hydrogen can be produce thru electrolysis using renewal source of electricity so it can meet the carbon-neutrality criterion. Liquid hydrogen has essentially the highest gravimetric energy possible but isn't very high in volumetric terms. Liquid hydrogen is also very difficult to store for any length of time. Compressed hydrogen gas is a bit easier to store but is far less volumetrically dense (-- much less so than good ol' gasoline or diesel). I'm not sure what other carbon-neutral fuel cell fuels are feasible.

The cycle and infrastructure for fuel cell fuels is much more extensive than for batteries. I.e. generate carbon-neutral electricity for electrolysis, produce a gas, capture and liquify or compress it, transport it to filling stations, store it there, then passed it to the vehicle's tank", whence gas is "burn" gas in the fuel cell producing power for vehicle's electric motor(s).

The batter's cycle & infrastructure are much simpler by comparison. Electricity is produce, convey to a recharger by the grid, the vehicle's battery is changed, the battery discharges to drive the vehicle's motor(s). (No electricity to gas, gas to electricity conversion.)

BEV's are already more cost efficient than ICE over reasonable life times. And, despite the batteries' relatively poor energy density, BEVs are a more desirable option for most consumers.

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NOT the 51st state, eh!?!

Edits: 12/03/23 12/03/23

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