Fuel cell electric vehicles cost efficiency

With respect to the marketplace, SOFC and SOFC/gas turbine hybrids are potentially an attractive basis for an efficient, clean, cost-competitive DG system, but they do not depend on having 1I2 fuel. However, they could facilitate a transition to a H2 economy by making use of H2 for distributed electricity and CHP, while other fuel cells for vehicles are becoming cost-effective, reliable, and efficient. It is important for the DOE to monitor the milestones and goals of the SECA Program and to fully fund it. 

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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