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Written by DCC Program Manager, Tyler Herrmann, and Fleets and Infrastructure, Steve Trowbridge
National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day is an opportunity to look beyond the headlines and ask practical questions about where hydrogen can fit into transportation.
For fleets considering alternative fuels, the answer isn’t the same for every operation. Vehicle range, fueling time, duty cycle, infrastructure, and cost all play a role in determining whether hydrogen makes sense for a particular fleet.
Where can hydrogen offer operational value?
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are electric vehicles, but they store energy differently than battery-electric vehicles. This means that they offer the same high torque, quiet operations, and lack of tailpipe emissions as battery electric vehicles, but they also offer faster refueling times (similar to that of diesel) and potentially longer range. This makes hydrogen particularly compelling for fleets that need the performance of an electric vehicle but have operational requirements that can be difficult to meet with current battery-electric options.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles also have fewer moving parts and operate at lower temperatures than conventional vehicles, which reduces regular maintenance needs (i.e. PM, or preventative maintenance). However, repair costs are currently often higher as the technology, parts availability, and service networks continue to develop.
The economics are another important consideration for fleets. Hydrogen vehicles currently cost more than comparable diesel vehicles, and hydrogen fuel costs more on a per-mile basis. For fleets, the question isn’t just whether a hydrogen vehicle can do the work; it’s whether the operational benefits justify the current costs for that specific application.
Does the duty cycle fit?
One of the most important considerations for any fleet evaluating a new vehicle or fuel is duty cycle: how far vehicles travel, how frequently they need to refuel, where they operate, and how much downtime their schedules can accommodate.
Hydrogen may be particularly relevant for:
- Transit and drayage
- Long-haul and regional trucking
- Return-to-base operations
- Consistent routes between terminals or transportation hubs
For high-mileage applications, fast fueling can be an important advantage. Hydrogen fuel-cell trucks can provide longer-range operation with refueling times closer to that of diesel, while producing zero tailpipe emissions, and upwards of 40% lower greenhouse gas emissions than diesel on a well-to-wheels (life cycle) basis.
Fueling availability remains a major consideration. Fleets that return to a central location or travel consistent routes may be better positioned to use a limited network of strategically located stations. As infrastructure expands, hydrogen could become an option for a broader range of routes.
The Texas hydrogen hub project (HyVelocity), for example, is developing hydrogen fueling infrastructure in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio to support trucking along major freight routes.
What would need to develop for hydrogen to become more practical?
Operational fit is only part of the equation. Fuel cost, infrastructure, and scale will all play a role in how the hydrogen transportation market develops.
Hydrogen currently costs significantly more than diesel on a per-mile basis, making fuel cost one of the biggest challenges for fleets. Expanding demand and larger vehicle deployments could help support the development of fueling networks, service capabilities, and supply chains.
Fueling infrastructure availability is also important. Similar to compressed natural gas, hydrogen stations are large facilities that compress and dispense fuel. Reliable stations in major transportation hubs could allow fleets to design routes around available infrastructure rather than requiring stations everywhere a vehicle travels.
How hydrogen is produced matters as well. Most hydrogen produced today comes from steam-methane reforming (SMR), which uses methane (natural gas) to produce hydrogen. Electrolysis can produce hydrogen by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, but it is currently much more expensive than hydrogen from SMR reactors and uses significant amounts of fresh water to produce hydrogen. For many reasons, including technical challenges associated with containing and transporting hydrogen, most hydrogen used in vehicles is transported over the road by truck, not through a pipeline network like we see with natural gas. For fleet operators in regions that do not produce and use hydrogen locally, this adds the cost and emissions of trucking hydrogen across the country.
Developing local hydrogen production and strategically located fueling infrastructure could therefore play an important role in building a transportation market in Colorado.
Looking at the bigger picture
Hydrogen is one option among a growing range of transportation technologies and fuels. Renewable diesel, renewable natural gas (RNG), propane (LPG), battery-electric vehicles, and other options each come with their own operational considerations, costs, and infrastructure needs.
There isn’t one solution that will work for every fleet. Drive Clean Colorado’s role is to help fleets and transportation stakeholders understand those choices, consider how different technologies might fit into their operations, and connect with people who have real-world experience putting them to work.
National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day is a good reminder to keep asking the practical questions: Where does a technology fit? What does it take to make it work? And is it the right fit for the operation?
Join the alternative fuels conversation at the Drive Clean Summit + Expo on October 22 at Empower Field at Mile High.