The hydrogen car represents great hope for those who do not trust electric vehicles due to their limited range and long recharging times. At the moment, the problem is the almost non-existent recharge network. But why not expand it with interchangeable cylinders?
The battery-powered car. Many times the electric car has been disparaged by calling it a “battery car”. But the truth is that the vehicle that most proudly wears this name is the hydrogen car, also known as “fuel cell”.
In short, the hydrogen vehicle uses the chemical reaction that occurs between hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. This passes to a battery and, later, a motor uses this stored electricity to move the wheels of the vehicle. Along the way, only water vapor and nitrogen are expelled.
some other problem. The theory looks really good in favor of the hydrogen car. But there are some problems that are delaying its expansion. In the best of cases, the objective is to use green hydrogen, that which is obtained only through renewable sources of energy, but this process is very expensive.
And, once the hydrogen is produced, transporting it in large quantities is, again, very expensive. Above all because it is very complicated to transport, it is required to be at high pressures and very low temperatures, which complicates its transfer. All these inconveniences are delaying a network of hydrogen stations that extend along our roads.
El HUV. Despite everything, there are manufacturers who continue to rely on hydrogen as the fuel of the future. The great advantage of these cars is that they are recharged at the same speed as a gasoline vehicle and have autonomy of around 700 kilometers. The Toyota Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo are good examples.
Aware of its advantages, an Afro-European start-up called NamX has submitted the HUV. Playing with the acronym for SUV and hydrogen, they have made public a prototype of a hydrogen car that will have six interchangeable cells to store its energy.
Extended Range Hydrogen. This vehicle that they intend to launch in 2025 is something like an extended range hydrogen vehicle… hydrogen. It has a main tank to store most of its energy and, in addition, it is accompanied by six interchangeable capsules to offer more kilometers and, at the same time, replace them with others in just 30 seconds.
Removable tanks is something that is also being studied among electric cars. In practice, it is a system very similar to battery exchange, although in this case the duration is three minutes. Nio and CATL are already experimenting with it in China.
So that? The question, in this case is… and all this, for what? We understand that the idea of these interchangeable hydrogen capsules can be an attractive solution if the hydrogen is filled in a large factory and then distributed to different parts of the same country. However, it seems difficult for such a system to be imposed without a standard that guarantees its versatility, since it seems difficult for a single brand to venture to try to expand the interchangeable hydrogen charge.
