Electric vehicles fuel cost

Development and testing of a 15 kW power generating system using PEM fuel cells for electric vehicles. Activity cost 3.15 million ( 1.725 million from ENEA). Partners Nuvera Fuel Cells Europe, CNR-ITAE, Polytechnic of Milan, Universities of Genoa and Rome. 

The above given examples show that the range problem is the most severe problem of batteries used to power electric vehicles. Fuel cells have the potential to overcome this issue. On one hand, rather cheap materials are used in Li ion batteries, while on the other hand they require a very large surface area of very finely controlled thin layers, interfaces, and separators. Li ion batteries are already mass produced for use in portable electronic devices and thus, many of the opportunities for cost reduction through scale have already been taken. Nowadays, the development and implementation of improved materials must be the way to further reduce costs. 

The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol has been widely investigated for exploitation in the so-called direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The most likely type of DMFC to be commercialized in the near future seems to be the polymer electrolyte membrane DMFC using proton exchange membrane, a special form of low-temperature fuel cell based on PEM technology. In this cell, methanol (a liquid fuel available at low cost, easily handled, stored, and transported) is dissolved in an acid electrolyte and burned directly by air to carbon dioxide. The prominence of the DMFCs with respect to safety, simple device fabrication, and low cost has rendered them promising candidates for applications ranging from portable power sources to secondary cells for prospective electric vehicles. Notwithstanding, DMFCs were... 

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) have attracted great interest as a primary power source for electric vehicles or residential co-generation systems. However, both the anode and cathode of PEFCs usually require platinum or its alloys as the catalyst, which have high activity at low operating temperatures (<100 °C). For large-scale commercialization, it is very important to reduce the amount of Pt used in fuel cells for reasons of cost and limited supply. 

The costs of a PEMFC stack are composed of the costs of the membrane, electrode, bipolar plates, platinum catalysts, peripheral materials and the costs of assembly. For the fuel-cell vehicle, the costs of the electric drive (converter, electric motor, inverter, hydrogen and air pressurisation, control electronics, cooling systems, etc.) and the hydrogen storage system have to be added. Current costs of PEM fuel-cell stacks are around 2000/kW, largely dominated by the costs of the bipolar plates and... 

Hydrogen from surplus wind electricity as vehicle fuel is fairly expensive. According to the calculations and assumptions of Wietschel et al. (2006) the price is 9.5 ct/kWh hydrogen. This is calculated with the assumptions shown in Table 16.2, compression costs of 1.5 ct/kWh and electricity costs from wind power of 4 ct/kWh. However, the 4 ct/kWh, which has a major influence on the total cost (see Fig. 16.10) is debatable, because we are talking about surplus wind and the question is what other alternatives for use exist. An opportunity cost approach may be useful, e.g., taking into account the gains of other uses, like electricity production via the compressed air option, which will lead to a much lower price for the electricity. 

Coupled with normal electric motors, the systems can provide attractive power system alternatives for automobiles, tractors, trucks, aircraft, boats, ships, submarines, trains, and other vehicles, again without exhaust emissions, pollutants, or harmful waste products and without fuel costs. 

For any dramatic increase in U.S. methanol consumption, most of the supply would have to be imported. While biomass-generated methanol might be economical in the long term, there is a considerable amount of so-called stranded natural gas in distant locations around the globe that could be converted to methanol and shipped by tanker at relatively low cost, should increased demand warrant such investment.24 Methanol from natural gas would have little or no net greenhouse gas benefits in a future fuel cell vehicle, as compared with future hybrid electric vehicles (see Chapter 8). 

Fuel cells can also be used for other purposes. Think about the energy used by a car or other transportation vehicles. Fuel cells could be an excellent source of electrical energy for the cars and buses of the future. In fact, some researchers think that if hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles become common, they will cost less than half of what gasoline powered-vehicles cost today. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will also be easier to take care of because there will be fewer parts to repair or replace. 

Finding 5-1. Hydrogen from central station plant natural gas or coal, used in fuel cell vehicles, can be roughly cost-equivalent to gasoline in a hybrid electric vehicle, on a gasoline-efficiency-adjusted (GEA) basis. For natural gas and coal, the differences between current and possible future technologies are relatively small, in comparison to the committee s estimation accuracy. 

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