During the Beijing Winter Olympics, 816 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were used as the main transport capacity to carry out demonstration operation services, which is the largest investment in major international events so far. Hydrogen energy vehicles have also entered the public eye. Because only water is discharged during driving, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are called "the ultimate environmental protection vehicle" in the industry, but it is not easy to achieve large-scale popularization and achieve "parallel driving" with pure electric vehicles.
Super performance can be started at minus 30 °C
The hydrogen fuel cell vehicles used during the Winter Olympics mainly include Toyota's new Mirai second-generation passenger car, the Toyota Costa minibus that has been developed and produced locally for the first time, and the bus developed by Toyota and Foton for the first time, and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has become an important part of the "green" Olympic Games in the field of transportation.
According to the data, the above three models can reduce CO2 emissions by 18.79 kg, 47.01 kg and 57.86 kg per 100 kilometers, respectively. Taking Foton Ouhui BJ6122 hydrogen fuel bus as an example, each vehicle travels about 200 kilometers per day, which can reduce carbon emissions by about 115.72 kilograms.
At the same time of green environmental protection, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles also have super performance, can be started in a low temperature environment of minus 30 ° C, can be stored in a low temperature environment of minus 40 ° C, and realize automatic protection of shutdown, and the mileage of the bus is more than 400 kilometers. Among the vehicles serving the Winter Olympics, more than 700 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are equipped with Yihuatong engines, and their fuel cell systems have also achieved key technological breakthroughs.
According to Yu Min, executive deputy general manager of Beijing Yihuatong Technology Co., Ltd., the power density of this latest battery system exceeds 800 watts / kg, and it can be started in a low temperature environment of minus 30 ° C. Up to now, vehicles equipped with Yihuatong hydrogen fuel cell system have been commercialized in 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhangjiakou, Chengdu and Zibo.
Economies of scale reduce stack costs
Because hydrogen energy has the advantages of zero carbon emission, high thermal efficiency, high conversion rate, simple structure, and fast filling, it may become the mainstream of new energy vehicles in the future. However, at present, the development of hydrogen energy still faces the high cost of hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen use, as well as the platinum dependence of the core component of the upstream industrial chain stack.
In hydrogen fuel cell systems, the stack is the core component that converts hydroxide reactions into electrical energy, accounting for about half of the cost of hydrogen fuel cells. Among them, the membrane electrode is the core component of the stack, accounting for 60% of the production cost, and its main cost component comes from the expensive and rare platinum catalyst.
In addition to the technical research of core materials, energy structure is also one of the main problems facing the development of hydrogen energy. Peng Suping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Fuel Cell Committee of the China Energy Research Association, believes that hydrogen energy accounts for about 10% of China's energy structure, which can be regarded as "aristocratic energy", "Now we need to think about how to turn it into mass energy." ”
During the Winter Olympics, Huanyu Jinghui, a hydrogen supply guarantee unit for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, cooperated with Jingneng Group to use the "green electricity" generated by photovoltaics and wind energy to produce hydrogen by water electrolysis to achieve "green electricity to green hydrogen". However, compared with the more "green" water electrolysis hydrogen production, fossil energy hydrogen production is still a lower-cost hydrogen production method. "In the next 20 years, the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels will be the main goal for the mainland to consider." Peng Suping believes that "the addition of leading fossil energy companies will also help hydrogen energy development enter the fast lane." ”
The hydrogen energy industry has ushered in a policy outlet
In recent years, driven by the continuous help of favorable policies and the "double carbon" goal, the hydrogen energy industry has ushered in a development boom. In March 2021, hydrogen energy was officially included in the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan. In December 2021, the Ministry of Finance and other five departments issued the "Notice on Launching a New Batch of Fuel Cell Vehicle Demonstration Application Work", Hebei and Henan two urban agglomerations were officially approved, coupled with the previously announced Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai and Guangdong city clusters, a total of 5 major urban agglomerations will officially roll out the curtain of mainland hydrogen fuel cell demonstration applications in 2022.
At present, more than 150 cities in 30 provinces and cities across the country have mentioned hydrogen energy development in their "14th Five-Year Plan", and more than 50 cities have issued special plans for the development of local hydrogen energy industry. According to the planning goals of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, by 2025, more than 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations will be built nationwide, and more than 54,000 hydrogen fuel vehicles will be promoted. According to the "China Hydrogen Energy Industry Development Report 2020", China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle ownership will increase from 7352 in 2020 to 100,000 in 2025, and the market size of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is expected to reach 80 billion yuan by 2025.
In the face of the promising hydrogen energy market, many domestic car companies have also seized the opportunity to layout, including Yutong, SAIC, Foton, Great Wall, Geely Commercial Vehicles, etc. have been clearly planned, increase investment in promoting the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the commercialization of products, and tackle key core technical issues such as hydrogen fuel cell engine high power, long life, high reliability, and ultra-low temperature environmental adaptability.
"From the perspective of the development strategy of hydrogen energy and fuel cells in the mainland, the next 10 to 20 years will be an important opportunity period for the development of the hydrogen energy and fuel cell industry in the mainland, and it is necessary to closely link the actual development of energy in the mainland to help achieve high-quality development of hydrogen energy and fuel cells." Peng Suping said.
Compared with charging stations, hydrogen refueling stations have higher construction costs and more constraints, which has also become a major obstacle to the large-scale popularization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In this regard, industry insiders also proposed that hydrogen refueling stations can be concentrated along the highway, give full play to the advantages of hydrogen fuel vehicles in the field of heavy trucks, and achieve a dislocation layout with pure electric vehicles in the field of passenger cars.
Image source: Visual China
![Good news! Shanghai will launch 31 hydrogen-fueled buses one after another! What are some of the "different" things about them?[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)