Hydrogen goes to the Czech Republic. You will refuel in Prague, Brno or Litvínov and only steam will come out of your exhausts
For several years now, it seems that the future of the automotive industry will be electric. At the same time, however, it is certain that hydrogen will come into play quite fundamentally. Hydrogen filling stations are already being set up in the Czech Republic, and the first production cars are heading to car showrooms.
The first three hydrogen “pumps” for the public will be built next year at Benzina gas stations in Prague in Barrandov, Litvínov and Brno. And this will be the ten right moment for carmakers that already have hydrogen-powered cars ready.
it is a Korean Hyundai with an SUV model Nexo and a Toyota with a Mirai sedan, following on from the first-generation car of the same name, which the Japanese carmaker specifically managed to sell ten thousand units worldwide. The sales ambitions of the new model are tenfold.
Hydrogen cars are basically electric cars. Instead of heavy rechargeable batteries usually located under the floor of the car, however, they rely on fuel cells. They convert liquid hydrogen in combination with oxygen from the air into electrical energy, which drives the car. Only water vapor comes out of the exhaust.
In terms of hydrogen in transport, the speed of refueling, although even electric cars can be recharged to practical capacity in half an hour. However, you can refuel a hydrogen car as fast as usual – a matter of five minutes. Hydrogen also offers a longer range: the second-generation Toyota Mirai promises 600 kilometers, and the aforementioned Hyundai Nexo is even better off.
The price of hydrogen is now usually around 250 crowns per kilogram, which with an average use of hydrogen cars of about one kilogram per 100 kilometers is about 2.50 CZK per kilometer. This is significantly more than competing electric cars, where the price of electricity consumed per kilometer is approximately one-fifth. In the future, however, the hydrogen price is expected to be reduced by about half, which could be much more interesting for those interested in hydrogen propulsion.
Price would not necessarily be a major obstacle to driving a hydrogen car. Hyundai Nexo, which is a large SUV with rich equipment, in Germany starts at two million crowns. The price of the Toyota Mirai will probably be around 1.4 million crowns.
Compared to the best-selling cars in our country, it is a lot, but looking at the price of, for example, a competing electric car from Tesla or the price of an electric Škoda Enyaq, the difference is not that big. One of the main reasons why fuel cells are more expensive than technologies for electric cars and hybrids is the use of platinum in their production.
“Apart from mass production, the path to cheaper production will lead mainly through a reduction in the consumption of this metal per car,” says Jitka Jechová, spokeswoman for the Czech representation of the Toyota and Lexus brands.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 60,000 to 90,000 hydrogen cars could run in the Czech Republic within ten years, which corresponds to about 1 to 1.5 percent of the domestic vehicle fleet. However, the condition is a sufficiently dense network of filling stations. In addition to the top three next year, more should follow – as a result, Unipetrol, which operates the Benzina network, could build up to eight in the next three years.
The leader in terms of the number of filling stations available in Europe has long been ever greener Germany, which has 87 and another 43 are planned for the end of next year. And I believe that the Volkswagen Group rejects hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and bets all cards on battery electric cars and hybrids combining conventional fuel with electricity.
The number two on the old continent is France with 26 stations and another 34 in the short term. The Poles are just like us, the first hydrogen station is to be established in 2021, while in Asia hydrogen is logically Japan, which has public hydrogen stations 114. Around the top 30 you will find South Korea and China, in America the most active is California, where hydrogen can be refueled in more than fifty places.
In order for hydrogen to score in connection with transport, it also needs an ambassador with enough influence. And Toyota did not aim low in its selection – it bet on Pope Francis, who has been offering a sustainable way of life for a long time, and last month he received a new Toyota Mirai in a modified version of “papa”.