One of the technology pillars for the electrification of vehicles is proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Combining the best of the electric vehicle (EV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) worlds, PEMFC offers emissions-free driving of an EV with the range and convenience of a traditional ICE. Although some automobile manufacturers are making cars with PEMFC technology, the sweet spot for the technology is in the heavy-duty and medium-duty truck and bus sectors, as well as other commercial transportation, including boats and trains.
Vehicles with PEMFC technology can be driven 400 to 500 miles on a few tanks of hydrogen and can be refueled within a few minutes. Other advantages include a low working temperature and short start-up time. Plus, PEMFCs can run on ambient air and enable safer and easier electrolyte management.
It has been calculated that the average commercial truck’s carbon footprint to be 201,834 kilograms or 223 tons of carbon dioxide. According to the Hydrogen Council, hydrogen can decarbonize major sectors of the economy, including the transportation sector. Currently, this sector depends almost entirely on fossil fuels and creates more than 20% of all CO2 emissions. By replacing some of the Class 8 ( 46-ton trucks) on the roads with PEMFC trucks, emissions will decrease.
Some manufacturers of commercial vehicles have been utilizing PEMFC technology for some time now. In 2020, approximately 1,600 commercial vehicles worldwide were fuel cell EVs. According to Statista, this volume is forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate of more than 90.4% percent until 2030, where the global fleet is forecast to reach some one million fuel cell electric trucks (Asia is projected to make up around 65% percent of that fleet).
PEMFC is also beneficial for other modes of transportation—we will see more boats and trains utilizing this technology. Now marine vessels are testing fuel cells in new capacities, and several ferries around the world are using hydrogen operations. There are also larger fuel cell models that are being prototyped and examined for container shipping vessels. Plus, recently the U.S. launched its first hydrogen fuel cell vessel.
Fuel cell trains are now operational in Germany, and other countries, such as Japan and South Korea, plan to use fuel cells for rail transportation. There is also the world’s first PEMFC hydrogen train—the two-car Alstom Coradia iLint. Each of the train cars contains a roof structure with compressed hydrogen cylinders totaling 94 kg, and a fuel cell module with a capacity of 198 kW. And just recently Canada announced the Canadian Pacific railroad is purchasing fuel cells to expand its hydrogen train program.
Soon we will see unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles, material handling machines at shipping ports, and warehouses and distribution centers utilizing PEMFC. There is no doubt fuel cells will become more common in the commercial transport sector.
