Hydrogen Fuelled Cars Essay Example

engines is H20 (water) and heat. These hydrogen-powered cars are only made possible by a fuel cell which converts the hydrogen into electricity.

The biggest advantage of using hydrogen to power cars over normal electricity, is that electric cars take hours to charge and then run out of power within a short range. Hydrogen powered cars take roughly the same time to fill up as petrol or diesel powered cars, and have a range much higher than the electric car. Hydrogen powered cars may not be completely ready for everyone at this current time. It is still under development, but has a promising future for under he bonnets of our cars. ABOVE: diagram of apparatus separating hydrogen from water. Very minute scale to what Is required ABOVE: Table outlining features of cars.

Alternatively, hydrogen powered cars have many negatives. Most of these negatives are caused by the lack of attempted hydrogen engines. A big problem with using hydrogen as a fuel is that it is highly flammable. Having a tank full of hydrogen in a car is very risky as if the car catches on fire and the fuel tank leaks, there will be a major explosion. But the biggest hindrance In hydrogen-powered cars Is the fuel his is achieved by separating the hydrogen from oxygen in water. Although this creates no pollution, it is currently very expensive and gives the fuel a high price considering its abundance.

One environmental disadvantage to hydrogen-powered cars is the process of the fuel cell being produced. The fuel cell requires many process to be made and other fuels such as oil and coal are required for the production

of these cells. Not only does this damage our environment like hydrogen powered cars vs electric todays cars already do, but takes away from the positive, being that they run on ydrogen and the solution for our cars of the future. If these engines need fossil fuels to be made, how we will continue to keep up with the demand of cars required after we have fan out of fossil fuels?

With new fuel, comes new fueling stations. It is likely that these hydrogen fuel pumps will be added to existing petrol stations, but it is predicted that it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and over 1 5 years to achieve. Lastly, the manufacturing of the fuel cells requires copper.

Copper is an Increasingly limited metal which will not be able to keep up with the high demand of he material required. This is the main reason hydrogen-fueled cars have not been put into mass production, and only limited production runs.

It is currently being Investigated if there is a suitable substitute metal. Currently aluminum is being trialed, but would require a much larger space inside the motor. ABOVE: Diagram of Hydrogen fuel cell It may seem that hydrogen is not a suitable fuel to replace petrol or diesel to propel our cars. It may seem that there are too many negatives against hydrogen fuel.

But, hydrogen-powered cars are still not ready for the market it is targeting. It is still going hrough many trial and error processes, trying to perfect the fuel cell before being Nidely available to the general public.