The development of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) appears to be gaining momentum. Toyota Motor and Honda Motor have announced plans to start selling FCEVs in 2015. Hyundai Motor of South Korea also has a similar plan. The success of FCEVs will depend largely on whether carmakers can price them competitively and how widespread hydrogen stations become.
Conventional electric vehicles that rely on batteries are regarded as the mainstay of next-generation eco-friendly cars. But such cars cannot travel very far between charges compared to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Expectations for FCEVs are mounting since their travel distance will likely be similar to that of traditional vehicles. Since fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, FCEVs emit only water vapor.
The Abe administration regards the development of FCEVs as an important pillar of its economic growth strategy and the trade and industry ministry is considering ways to provide necessary support. But even if automakers succeed from a technological standpoint, they cannot expect FCEVs to be commercial success if their prices remain high. The prices must fall into a range of ¥5 million to ¥7 million per unit so that ordinary citizens can afford to buy them. The task will not be easy, however. For example, the hydrogen tanks used in FCEVs must be strong enough to stand a pressure of 350 or more atmospheres and they are currently very expensive to produce.