关于持续了几十年的燃料电池的争论

4G光元： 关于燃料电池的争论已经持续了几十年。两会上，全国政协委员柳崇禧接受记者采访时表示， 自主品牌纯电动汽车的发展在2020年之后将面临非常严峻的问题。由于政策的不连续性以及纯电动汽车自身的问题，当纯电动汽车完全不再享有补贴时，其市场前景令人堪忧。在电池方面，自主电池供应商的成本和技术难以和日韩企业相抗衡，2020年后，当大家都不再享受补贴时，自主品牌和外资品牌站在同一起跑线上，消费者当然会选择物美价廉的国外产品。”另一方面，柳崇禧表示，当下纯电动汽车的销量主要集中在汽车限购城市，而在其他地区纯电动汽车的销量则相当有限。

从全球的大环境看，纯电动汽车和氢燃料电池汽车，孰更有意义？始终是...

特斯拉Model S和丰田Mirai

特斯拉首席执行官埃伦·马斯克和其他人已经发表了大量文章和舆论，试图证明氢燃料电池劣于纯电动汽车。燃料电池的主要支持者是丰田，自2014年年底以来一直推广销售未来的燃料电池车，并希望到2020年年销售30,000辆氢燃料电池汽车。好事多磨，上周有报道称，“丰田汽车公司周三表示，由于其燃料电池系统产生的输出电压问题，公司正在召回所有约2,800辆零排放Mirai汽车。

其他日本汽车制造商也加速氢燃料电池动力的研究。本田在去年12月推出了Clarity燃料电池轿车，现代也提供了图森燃料电池SUV。雷克萨斯和奥迪在最近一次的底特律车展上展示了氢概念车。通用和本田最近宣布合资开发下一代燃料电池系统。该公司计划投资8500万美元投资，希望在2020年实现生产。

本田明亮燃料电池轿车

在日本，燃料电池不仅被视为零排放汽车的技术，而且被认为是家用热电联产和工业能量存储备份的一种方式。 ENE-FARM计划到2015年已经安装了超过12万个住宅燃料电池单元，政府已经设定到2030年部署530万的目标。东芝的H2One系统在一个标准航运集装箱中包括燃料电池发电和电解水氢发生器。它产生电和热水，并且可以在灾害中用作便携式电源。

拖车上的标准集装箱运输的H2One系统

东京市计划投资4亿美元用于燃料电池车辆补贴和加氢站建设，以在2020年奥运会展示日本燃料电池技术。那时丰田希望有100辆燃料电池客车在首都东京运行。首相安倍晋三早已是一个推广燃料电池的倡导者。安倍说，“氢能是能源安全和防止全球变暖的措施之一。” “由于日本放松了对燃料电池的管制，未来的氢气社会即将在日本开始。

日本丰田未来氢燃料电池汽车

在福岛核灾难之后，日本正在寻找新的方法来减少排放和减少对进口燃料的依赖。目前，大多数氢气是由化石燃料生产的，但是日本政府希望在2040年之前找到从可再生能源生产氢气的有效方法。关于燃料电池的争论已经持续了几十年。反对派最喜欢说“氢气确实是未来的燃料 - 并且永远总是未来的”。首先要明白的是，氢气不是能源，而是储存能量的手段，是能量载体。是电池的替代品。实际上，氢燃料电池汽车（FCV）也是电动车辆 - 它们使用与Teslas和其他电池电动车辆（BEV）相同的电动机和其它动力系统部件 - 只有能量存储介质不同。

比较电动汽车的简单性和氢气车的复杂性

燃料电池车辆比当前的纯电动车（BEV）具有两个优点：它们具有更大的行驶范围，因为储氢罐比现今典型的EV上电池存有更多的能量;并且它们可以快速加注，像传统汽油车加油一样。然而，汽车电池的技术还处于起步阶段，虽然纯电动车BEV的行驶里程和充电时间都在不断改善。新技术如自动无线充电和/或动态（路上）无线充电也可能有不久的将来缓解充电问题。

模型S在特斯拉增压站

早在2003年，当Martin Eberhard和Marc Tarpenning正在计划创建特斯拉汽车公司时，他们考虑了许多不同的能量存储机制，包括氢气，在决定电池是最好的选择之前。他们考虑过氢， “氢是一种能量载体，而不是燃料，”塔彭宁说，“不幸的是，它不是一个好的能量载体。

即使从公司的开始，特斯拉公司为其Roadster就排除了氢能电动车技术，当然辩论还在继续。在2014年以来，现代，丰田和本田纷纷推出了氢燃料电池汽车，也有人开始把FCV和BEV的问题列表比较。商业内部人士试图解决燃料电池车辆在范围和加油时间的优势。Tesla为了自己的信用，公司做出了回应。与此同时，马斯克创造了他所谓的“愚人电池”学说，解释了燃料电池技术缺点。

                                                                                                                             

马斯克：做燃料电池汽车简直是浪费时间

　　特斯拉联合创始人、首席执行官马斯克三年前在接受媒体采访时表示，特斯拉在全球都卖得很好，但他对燃料电池汽车路线评价很低。

　　马斯克称，做燃料电池简直是浪费时间，燃料电池的投资非常愚蠢。氢不是高效的储能机制。燃料电池不到普通太阳能发电效率的1/4，氢是一种可怕的能量载体。

　　对于大众、通用、宝马等斥巨资投入电动车，马斯克表示，“这是个好消息。”也不会担心对特斯拉的冲击。他认为，宣称做电动车不重要，他们到底做了多少电动汽车才重要。

　　马斯克指出，大众、通用、宝马等大企业每年生产1亿辆汽油和柴油小汽车或卡车，但是电动车的产量不到1%，现在有20亿燃油车行驶在路上，即使明天开始新车量产100%都是电动车，也至少需要20年电动车才能在公路上明显地体现出来。

　　此外，马斯克还表示不喜欢谈营销。在他看来，营销是一个有点虚假的东西，营销试图在产品和大家渴求的东西之间建立起联系。“如果这个产品本身是有竞争力的、有价值的、或让人期待的，其他的东西都不重要”。

                       

Tesla Is Proving That Electric Cars Make More Sense Than Fuel-Cell Vehicles

The Tesla Model S and the Toyota Mirai (Image: Teslarati)

TESLA EDGE: JAPANESE AUTOMAKERS STUBBORNLY PUSH AHEAD WITH HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others have spoken at great length about the reasons why hydrogen fuel cells are inferior to batteries for automotive applications, but others, particularly in Japan, do not agree. The leading proponent of fuel cells is Toyota, which has been selling the Mirai fuel cell vehicle since late 2014, and hopes to be selling 30,000 hydrogen vehicles per year by 2020. Things haven’t been going so well. This week it’s been reported that, “Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it was recalling all of the roughly 2,800 zero-emission Mirai cars on the road due to problems with the output voltage generated by their fuel cell system.”

*This article comes to us courtesy of Evannex (which also makes aftermarket Tesla accessories). Authored by Matt Pressman.

Other Japanese automakers have also embraced hydrogen fuel cells. Honda introduced the Clarity Fuel Cell sedan in December, and Hyundai offers the Tucson Fuel Cell SUV. Lexus and Audi showed hydrogen concept cars at the recent Detroit auto show. GM and Honda recently announced a joint venture to develop next-generation fuel cell systems. The companies plan to invest $85 million in the venture, and hope to reach production in 2020.

The Honda Clarity fuel cell sedan (Image: CNET)

In Japan, fuel cells are seen not only as an automotive technology, but as a way to store energy for residential and industrial use as well. The ENE-FARM program had installed over 120,000 residential fuel cell units as of 2015, and the government has set a target of deploying 5.3 million by 2030. Toshiba’s H2One includes a fuel cell, an electrolysis hydrogen generator and an electric battery in a standard shipping container. It produces electricity and hot water, and can be used as a portable power source in disasters.

H2One system transported on a trailer (Image: Alternative Energies)

The city of Tokyo plans to invest $400 million in vehicle subsidies and hydrogen fueling stations in order to showcase fuel cell technology at the 2020 Olympic Games. Toyota hopes to have 100 fuel cell buses operating in the nation’s capital by then. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become an advocate. “Hydrogen energy is an ace in the hole for energy security and measures against global warming,” Abe said in January. “Thanks to deregulation, a hydrogen society of the future is about to begin here in Japan.”

The Toyota Mirai in Japan (Image: Autoblog)

In the wake of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan is looking for new ways to reduce emissions and reliance on imported fuels. Currently, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, but the Japanese government hopes to find ways to produce it from renewable sources by 2040. The debate over fuel cells has been going on for decades. Detractors are fond of saying, “hydrogen is the fuel of the future – and always will be.” The first thing to understand is that hydrogen is not a source of energy, but a means of storing energy, an alternative to batteries. Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are electric vehicles – they use the same electric motors and other powertrain components that Teslas and other battery electric vehicles (BEVs) do – only the energy storage medium is different.

Comparing the simplicity of electric cars with the complexity of hydrogen cars (Image: InsideEVs)

Fuel cell vehicles have two advantages over current BEVs: they have more range, because a full tank of hydrogen stores more energy than today’s typical EV battery; and they can be refueled quickly, like a legacy gasoline vehicle. However, the technology of automotive batteries is in its infancy, and both the range and recharging time of BEVs are steadily improving. New technologies such as automatic wireless charging and/or dynamic (on-road) wireless charging may someday make the charging issue irrelevant.

Model S at a Tesla Supercharger station (Image: Crave)

Back in 2003, when Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were laying their plans to create Tesla Motors, they considered many different energy storage mechanisms, including hydrogen, before deciding that batteries were the best choice. “Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not a primary fuel,” noted Tarpenning, “and unfortunately, it’s not a good energy carrier.”

Even from the beginning of the company, Tesla dismissed hydrogen in favor of battery electric vehicle technology for its Roadster (Image: Zero Emission Motoring)

The debate continues. In 2014, Green Car Reports published a list of questions for Hyundai, Toyota, and Honda about the viability of fuel cells. To their credit, the automakers responded. In January, Business Insider attempted to address fuel cell vehicles’ advantages in range and refueling time. In the meantime, Elon Musk has explained the technical shortcomings of what he calls “fool cells” many times. As an energy storage mechanism, hydrogen is less efficient than lithium-ion batteries (to say nothing of future battery chemistries). Hydrogen is even more volatile than gasoline, so storing it and transporting it are challenging. And using it in cars would require building a network of fueling stations, whereas the electricity to charge a BEV is already available almost everywhere.

Above: Comparing the two technologies and Musk’s thoughts on hydrogen (Youtube: 5 hours ahead)

At the Automotive World News Congress in 2015, Elon said, “If you’re going to pick an energy storage mechanism, hydrogen is an incredibly dumb one to pick – you should just pick methane, that’s much much easier, or propane,” Musk said. He went on to note the complexity of producing hydrogen. “It’s just very difficult to make hydrogen and store it and use it in a car. If you, say, took a solar panel and use that…to just charge a battery pack directly, compared to split water, take hydrogen, dump oxygen, compress hydrogen…it is about half the efficiency.”