BIG NEWS! Honda announced the termination of production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

The famous Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda Motor announced that it will terminate the production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) that use hydrogen as fuel starting in August 2021. This news is undoubtedly a blockbuster in the new energy automobile industry.

Honda Motor also announced in April this year that in order to break away from carbon emissions, it will strive to sell only electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles worldwide by 2040. After only three months, it was announced that the production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles would be halted, which was a bit abrupt.

Japan's plan to vigorously develop hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles rely on hydrogen and oxygen for chemical combustion to power the vehicle. Because it emits water and has no carbon dioxide emissions, it can be called the ultimate environmentally friendly vehicle. Moreover, it only takes 3 minutes to change the fuel of a hydrogen-fueled car compared to an electric car. However, hydrogen fuel vehicles also have disadvantages, that is, the system structure is more complicated than that of electric vehicles, and the components and fuel safety measures are more stringent. However, Japan`s technological advantages in fossil fuel vehicles can increase this technical barrier and make Japan`s new energy vehicles better moat.

The ideal is plump and the reality is very slapped

Following the global trend of low carbon emissions, Honda has invested heavily in the research and development of new energy vehicles. In 2020, of the 4.45 million vehicles sold globally, hydrogen energy accounts for less than 1%, and the cumulative sales are only 1,900.

Honda's hydrogen energy passenger car was launched two years later than Toyota, and it was not launched until 2016. But the price is as high as 7.83 million yen (500,000 yuan), which is difficult for ordinary consumers to accept compared to ordinary passenger cars of 2 to 3 million yen. In addition to the high prices, Japan has only prepared 147 hydrogen stations as of June 2020, and the lack of basic facilities is also one of the reasons for the poor sales performance. In 2020, only 240 hydrogen energy vehicles were sold at home and abroad. In total, only 1,900 vehicles were sold.

Japan uses its own technological advantages in the field of traditional automobiles to ignite the technological tree of hydrogen energy vehicles. With the capital and technology investment in electric vehicles all over the world, including China, while electric vehicles are advancing by leaps and bounds, Japanese automakers have begun to realize that it is difficult for modern industries to try to break new ground. Honda has already begun to withdraw. We will wait and see where Toyota Hydrogen Energy Vehicles will go.

Big collision of views in the industry

Regarding hydrogen energy vehicles, the current industry can be roughly divided into two attitudes: supportive and unoptimistic.

Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that hydrogen energy storage has low cost, complementary to electricity storage, and flexible transportation and storage methods. It is the best way for large-scale and long-term storage of centralized renewable energy. However, the hydrogen energy industry is still in the early stages of development, and there are many bottlenecks in development. The key to the development of hydrogen energy is to focus on "green hydrogen." For areas rich in hydrogen by abandoning wind and solar energy, try to use them as close as possible to reduce transportation costs. From the point of view of usage, hydrogen fuel cell power system is more suitable for long-distance, large and heavy-duty vehicles to replace diesel engines, and it also has certain strategic significance.

Yang Yusheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that truly clean and economically available hydrogen energy is not abundant, and the proposition that "hydrogen energy is the ultimate energy" is not valid. At present, hydrogen energy is still facing the "three no problems" of "no energy saving, no emission reduction, and no cheapness". When time and technology are not yet mature, don't be too optimistic about the future development of hydrogen energy and fuel vehicles.

The CEO of Volkswagen Group Herbert Diss said in an interview: [You will not see any hydrogen-powered passenger cars. The idea of applying hydrogen fuel cell technology in a large-scale market is too optimistic. It's impossible, because the physics behind this is unreasonable."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk bluntly wrote: Fuel Cells=Fool Sells! He explained: "Fuel cells should be called a stupid transaction. It's not a good idea to use fuel cells on rockets, but at least it won't be as ridiculous as using them in cars." The popular point is "IQ tax."

In fact, as early as October 2019, Honda, which had actively promoted hydrogen fuel cells, announced that it would shelve the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology indefinitely. In the same year, due to frequent explosion accidents, Japan, South Korea, Norway, etc. have stopped the sales of hydrogen energy vehicles. In April 2020, due to the high cost, Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, which has explored the field of hydrogen fuel cells for more than 20 years, officially announced the termination of the hydrogen fuel cell passenger car plan. Volkswagen directly criticized the use of hydrogen in cars as "meaningless."

Is hydrogen energy the future of new energy? What do you think?