Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles: A Perfect Bet for Public Transporation in Urban Areas and Metropolitan Cities

Highlights:

• Introduction
• Increasing use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for urban transportation
• The rise of the industry in Asia-Pacific

The electric vehicle revolution has completely changed the mobility sector and brought major transformations in automobile engineering and manufacturing. Today, electric vehicles are gradually replacing conventional cars that run on fossil fuels all across the globe. Moreover, not just passenger automobiles, but public transport systems and commercial vehicles, too, are shifting to electric mobility in order to reduce carbon emissions and tackle the problem of climate change and global warming.

Typically, an electric vehicle draws power from the battery pack to turn the electric motor and run the automobile. In the past few years, several advanced technologies have emerged that offer alternative mechanisms to power this electric traction motor, one of which is hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for urban public transportation

Almost all major countries including developed and developing economies across the globe have recently submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) as part of global negotiations on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Since environmental studies and research have shown that public transportation systems are one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, most of these countries have committed to shifting to electric mobility for public transportation services. In such a scenario, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have emerged as a viable option for urban public transportation systems.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles use hydrogen as a fuel to convert to electricity; thus, these vehicles cause no tailpipe emissions. Thus, most importantly they help in achieving the goal of zero emissions in public transportation. Secondly, these vehicles are much more efficient as compared to conventional internal combustion engine automobiles. In fact, engineering research has shown that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles perform better even when compared to other EV technologies.

When compared to diesel or CNG buses, the range of hydrogen fuel cells is much higher. This becomes an important consideration in large metropolitan areas where the public transportation system is supposed to connect different points of the city in a few hours. Regular stops for refilling in such conditions might cause delays and make the entire public transportation system inefficient. Thus, with the simple advantage of higher mileage, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles make the governance of local areas better. At the same time, the refueling time of hydrogen fuel cells is also quite minimal, ranging somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes.

Due to these advantages, many governments in developed and developing economies have signed partnership agreements with automobile manufacturers to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for public transportation. For instance, in September 2023, Tata Motors, a premier automobile manufacturing company in India, delivered their first-of-its-kind hydrogen fuel cell buses to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), as part of the agreement signed in July 2021. Under this agreement, these buses will be assessed and tested for their potential as a mass transportation solution in large metropolitan areas.

Rise of the industry in the Asia-Pacific region

The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry is expected to witness stunning growth in the Asia-Pacific region and rise at a massive CAGR of 44.9% from 2023-2032. Many countries in this region such as South Korea have given incentives and subsidies to accelerate this transition to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. For instance, due to the subsidy and incentive package provided by the South Korean govt., Hyundai’s Nexo, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, which was originally priced at $60k in 2021, was made available at $30k. Similar to these sales-related subsidies, many other production-related incentives have also been made available to automobile manufacturers so as to bring down the cost of production.

Along with this, the growing environmental awareness among people in this region has played an important role in increasing the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The launch of innovative products by automobile companies headquartered in this province has also contributed to this rise. For example, in September 2023, Toyota Motor Corporation, a multinational automobile manufacturer, announced the launch of Hilux, its hydrogen fuel cell prototype. The launch is expected to help the company expand its presence in the industry in the near future.

To conclude, the rising demand for hydrogen fuel cell buses for public transportation in different countries is expected to increase the growth rate of the landscape. Furthermore, the subsidies and incentives offered by various governments are expected to foster favorable conditions for the industry's growth.

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