Fuel Cell Challenges


The main challenges for fuel cell technology currently are threefold:

  1. Cost: Unfortunately, to achieve the beneficial features of a fuel cell requires a substantial amount of expensive materials. First among these is platinum, which is used for the catalyst, however the other materials in the cell such as the membrane and plate are not made from common materials either. These material costs are compounded by the precision manufacturing required and (currently) small scale of production.

  2. Durability: To achieve parity with current ICE technology fuel cells will have to robustly last for many years of operation, which is a difficult feat given the harsh environment found within a running cell. Some stationary fuel cells have demonstrated multiple-year lifetimes, however for automotive fuel cells the first demonstration fleets have only been on the road for 5-7 years to date so there is limited data in that application.

  3. Infrastructure: The infrastructure to provide hydrogen for fuel cell powered cars or appliances is also an obstacle. At the moment a smattering of hydrogen filling stations are available in specific regions, most notably in and around Vancouver and southern California. Wide scale adoption of fuel cell technology to displace internal combustion is contingent on having places to refuel. To date the oil and gas companies have been unwilling to invest in infrastructure until more cars are on the road (despite the orders of magnitude larger investment in the fuel cell technology already undertaken).