The sales of fuel cell hydrogen vehicles will dominate sales of battery EVs, according to the director of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).
Professor Eicke Weber told the World of Energy Solutions conference in Stuttgart, Germany, battery-powered vehicles will still play an important role in the e-mobility sector, but hydrogen cars will have the larger sales in the future.
The research and development of German car manufacturers focus on hydrogen at the moment. “Hydrogen can power trucks and buses,” he said. “The biggest advantage of hydrogen is that you can use the car the same way as today.”
In his presentation about the role of energy storage for an energy turnaround, he also addressed the German government to take more action in emission-free regulation within city centres. “I still can’t understand that not a single city in Germany made such an announcement. If a city would declare itself carbon-free, then the technology would push through.”
Germany has currently 14 hydrogen fuel stations and plans to increase the number to 50 in 2015. The H2 Mobility initiative aims to raise that number to 100 stations from 2015 to 2017 and to 400 stations in 2023 at a cost of €350m ($442m).
