Hydrogen Fuel Cells vs. Battery Electrics - Garrett argues hydrogen and electric vehicles both will have a place in the future market

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For a time hydrogen fuel cells were viewed as potentially the future of automotive power. BMW in particular invested in this technology but the most recent push is electric power. However, hydrogen fuel cells do have advantages and the associated costs are dropping faster than electric development costs.

Hydrogen fuel cells currently offer longer range with less energy storage:

The chart below begins to answer the question. In the simplest terms, adding more battery capacity – this currently means any type of battery – to a vehicle yields diminishing marginal range. With an internal combustion engine or fuel cell, you get essentially a 1:1 increase in driving range for each additional measure of energy storage capacity.

Things can change but that is one major area where hydrogen is better than pure electric battery drivetrains.

Garrett Senior VP Pierre Barthelet wrote the whitepaper below which makes a strong and interesting argument in favor of hydrogen fuel cells and sees a future for both applications going forward.