Fuel cell

The fuel cell converts hydrogen into electricity. One kilogram of hydrogen will give a car a range of around 100 kilometres. Fuel cells are now technologically advanced and safe devices. The relatively high cost of fuel cells has so far prevented mass deployment. They are guaranteed to last up to 28 years.

Fuel cells with PEM membrane

A fuel cell is a device capable of converting chemical energy into electrical energy. The principle is an electrochemical reaction between fuel and an oxidizing agent. Hydrogen and oxygen react on a proton-conducting membrane (PEM), which is placed between two electrodes. A thin layer of platinum is deposited on their surface to act as a catalyst for the reaction. At the anode electrode, hydrogen is decomposed into protons and electrons. The protons can penetrate the membrane to the cathode, the electrons are forced to pass as an electric current through the external circuit and do useful work. The resulting electricity is used in automobiles to charge the traction battery and then power the vehicle.

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Fuel cell efficiency is 50%

The efficiency of the fuel cell is about 50%. From 1 kg of hydrogen, the fuel cell is able to produce 16 kWh of electricity + 16 kWh of heat + clean water. A passenger car can travel 100 km on this amount of hydrogen.

Advantages of PEM fuel cells

The big advantage of fuel cell electric cars over lithium battery cars is the longer range (600 to 1000 km) and the refuelling time of a few minutes (up to 3 minutes). Fuel cells are now technologically advanced and safe devices. Mass deployment is still hampered by the relatively high cost of fuel cells, which is mainly due to piece production and the price of input materials. The price of a PEM fuel cell is currently approximately 40 000 CZK/kW. The lifetime of fuel cells in current products is guaranteed to be 5-20 000 hours (which is sufficient for 7-28 years for an average 2-hour drive per day).

Watch the video describing the Toyota Mirai's FCEV technology.

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