Unit cost and infra make the road bumpy for hydrogen fuel cell buses

There are issues around the supply chain of green hydrogen, especially considering the nature of hydrogen being of low density, highly inflammable, odorless and corrosive.

The launch of India's first green hydrogen fuel cell electric (FCEV) bus in Delhi on Monday by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri has grabbed public attention and set the ball rolling for hydrogen as a fuel for meeting the sustainability goals in the mobility sector. While welcome all round, observers point out that it will be a rough road to sustain this attempt at sustainable transportation.

While the application of green hydrogen towards mobility is a great initiative from an environmental perspective, for this to be feasible in the long run, we will have to look at the total cost of ownership that comes with these vehicles, Som Kapoor, Partner, EY India told DH. 

Also, according to Deloitte’s insights shared exclusively with DH, the current total cost of ownership (TCO) of FCEVs can be roughly 80-100% higher than internal combustion engine (ICE) or battery electric vehicles (BEV).  

According to experts, it is imperative to bring about policies to tackle this financial disparity. 

“There will also be a substantial transition cost for moving from fossil fuel to hydrogen fuel, which needs to be borne and this can be addressed if the government gives tax breaks for clean fuel,  which will also bring down the import bill,” Kapoor added. 

The estimated well-to-wheel efficiency of FCEV is at 14-18 per cent, which is closer to the BEV at 18-42 per cent and better than the ICE which is at 4-25 per cent, according to Deloitte. Interestingly, the typical refueling time of Hydrogen(H2) is the same as ICE vehicles hovering between 1-5 min versus BEV charging time of 1-2 hours (fast charger) and 4-8 hours (slow charger).

“So, FCEV promises to combine the best of the other fuel options. However, currently, the financial viability of creating an H2 refueling station is not on the positive side and also the source of H2 plays an important role in going green,” underscored Atul Jairaj, Partner,  Deloitte India. 

Mustafa Wajid, Chair - IET Future of Mobility and Transport Panel, highlighted multiple challenges for the scalability of hydrogen as a fuel including the high cost of production, storage, management, and availability at distribution points. Safety is another significant concern, he added. 

“Unit economics of this technology will drive adoption. As of today, hydrogen ICE topology is a far more cost-effective option than hydrogen fuel cell,” Wajid said, adding that trucks are an interesting place to look for hydrogen fuel owing to higher payload issues. 

“The technology is still some distance away from full-scale commercial deployment. The buses currently have a hydrogen capacity of 30 kg and provide a range of 350 km. At a manufacturing cost of Rs 300-400/Kg of hydrogen, the per kilometre cost of running the vehicles is between Rs 25.7 to 34.3, which is significantly higher (more than 10x) than other fuel sources,” explained Subhabrata Sengupta, Partner, Avalon Consulting.

There are also issues around the supply chain of green hydrogen, especially considering the nature of hydrogen being of low density, highly inflammable, odorless and corrosive. It requires highly specialised infrastructure along the supply chain including pipelines, storage tanks, transportation vehicles, gas leak sensors, etc.

“For FCEVs to be a scalable option in CVs, focus is needed on two aspects – demand creation via government interventions and establishing of supply of hydrogen across the country,” Jairaj stressed adding that one of the factors slowing EV adoption is charging infrastructure availability, hence learning from this, ensuring efficient and sufficient supply of H2 is paramount. 

Interestingly, conversations with experts revealed that most industry players are in some stage of readiness to put products on the road and are set to launch tests in the coming year.

“Globally original equipment manufacturers and component manufacturers are exploring opportunities to make FCEV viable both financially and operationally. Though there is minimal adoption of FCEVs today globally, there is massive potential for the same in CVs,” Jairaj said.