Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
After years of unmet promises, hydrogen vehicles could finally be catching on. If so, it'll be a convoy of clean semi-trucks — not a bunch of quirky passenger cars — leading the way.
The big picture: We've been hearing about zero-emission, fuel-cell vehicles for decades as the answer to our worries about fossil fuels and climate change. But even now, the economic and practical challenges are still too difficult to overcome — except, perhaps, for commercial truck fleets.
The state of play: Like carmakers, truck manufacturers are under intense regulatory pressure to cut carbon emissions.
- Tesla is developing an electric semi-truck, but most manufacturers say electric trucks make sense only for shorter routes.
- Strapping a bulky battery under a long-haul truck is impractical if it takes up space that could otherwise be used for revenue-producing cargo.
Driving the news: Several heavy-duty truck manufacturers this week announced they're rolling out hydrogen-powered big rigs.
- Hyundai delivered its first fuel cell trucks to customers in Europe, and said it will start selling them in the U.S. and China next year.
- Toyota and its Hino subsidiary said their first fuel cell truck will arrive in North America in the first half of 2021.
- Hyzon Motors, with help from an investment announced today by French energy giant Total, expects to deliver about 5,000 fuel cell trucks and buses over the next three years.
- General Motors is negotiating a partnership with Nikola, a hydrogen truck startup in Arizona.
How it works: Unlike conventional gasoline or diesel cars or trucks, fuel cell vehicles combine hydrogen and oxygen to power an electric motor. The only tailpipe emission is water vapor.
- One advantage of hydrogen fuel cells over battery electric vehicles is that they can be refueled in less than 10 minutes, vs. 30 minutes to multiple hours for EVs, depending on the power source.
Between the lines: A number of automakers, including Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and General Motors, have tried to market hydrogen fuel-cell cars over the years with little success.
- They sold only 7,500 worldwide last year, including just 2,089 in the U.S.
The biggest stumbling block to acceptance (aside from the cost of the technology) is finding a place to fill up.
- There are about 115,000 gas stations in America today.
- Yet there are just 42 public hydrogen stations, all but one of them in California.
Commercial trucks, on the other hand, don't require a large network of hydrogen fueling stations, especially if they're operating on set routes. An entire truck fleet can be refueled at a designated terminal.
- Long-haul operators could build a series of hydrogen fueling depots, 400 or 500 miles apart, along heavily traveled routes.
- Companies like Nikola even hope to produce hydrogen from renewable sources on-site at its fueling stations.
What to watch: Hyundai officials tell Axios they haven't given up on fuel cell passenger cars, and that the hydrogen ecosystem they're developing for trucks will eventually bring down costs and make hydrogen-powered cars feasible, too.
- The catch: Battery technology, meanwhile, is leaping ahead, making electric cars cheaper and more appealing to consumers.
- Yes, but: Rapidly increasing demand could pinch battery supply chains in a few years, warns mobility analyst Sam Abuelsamid of Guidehouse Insights.
The bottom line, says Abuelsamid: "I don't think we necessarily have a single solution. We could absolutely have both hydrogen and battery electric vehicles."