When we talk about electric cars today, we mean indirectly battery electric vehicles (BEV). This is a form The most common, as we operate these vehicles as our current electronic devices. The capacity of the battery determines its autonomy, and the amount of electricity it can absorb determines its charging time.

This technology is used today most car manufacturers when developing electrical models. Because this is the know-how we possess bestso other types of electric cars are a bit forgotten at the moment…

Hydrogen as an alternative to batteries

This is the case fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) that run on hydrogen. Unlike battery-powered electric cars, hydrogen cars are closer to thermal cars in terms of their use and operation. They have a hydrogen tankwhich must be performed at designated stations. The tank is full in five minutes, versus several tens of minutes for recharging a BEV. Hydrogen is injected into the fuel cell, and upon contact with oxygen it creates a chemical reaction that produces electricity. A very simple operation that makes them on paper even more convenient than ordinary electric cars. They are actually lighter because they don’t have large batteries only water molecules are released.

Hyundai, Toyota, and soon Volkswagen?

But despite its many advantageshydrogen remains a very small minority in the market, in fact almost does not exist. The fault of very expensive technology and that increases the initial prices of vehicles. And especially lack of infrastructure: only 31 stations are available in France… Only two manufacturers have made the jump to hydrogen: Hyundai with the Nexo SUV and Toyota with the Mirai. Even the Honda Clarity FCEV has disappeared from the catalog…

On the other hand, if there’s a manufacturer we didn’t expect, that’s fine volkswagen. According to several cross-validated data, A German group secretly worked on this technologyand reportedly filed dozens of patents and research this year alone. It is, in particular, about a a hydrogen car with a range of 2000 km ! If this information is verified, Volkswagen could become the third strong hydrogen player in the passenger car segment…