Volkswagen CEO speaks against hydrogen energy says fuel cell vehicles are not the future

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess once again stated on social media Twitter that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are not a solution for future emission-free driving.

Hydrogen energy is a world-recognized clean energy source. As the hydrogen fuel cell produces water, it drives the motor without any carbon emissions. It has always been regarded as the ultimate solution for future cars.

But Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has been opposed to promoting the application of hydrogen energy in automobiles. Diess said in an interview with the media in March this year that you will not see any application of hydrogen energy in automobiles, not even within 10 years, because the physics behind this is too unreasonable.

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At the same time, Tesla CEO Musk is also an opponent of hydrogen fuel cells. In April 2017, Musk created the golden sentence “Fuel Cells equals to Fool cells”. Musk believes that lithium batteries are a better new energy solution and a better energy storage solution.

This is not the first time that Musk has succumbed to the application prospects of fuel cells in automobiles. As early as 2013, he declared at an event that fuel cells are simply too ridiculous as a power source for vehicles and that hydrogen is more suitable for rockets. Fuel rather than vehicle power.

According to a paper published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), hydrogen fuel should be mainly used in areas that cannot be electrified, such as aviation or industrial processes.

The efficiency of producing hydrogen fuel is too low, the cost is too high, and its availability is too uncertain to be a widespread alternative to fossil fuels, especially in the automotive industry. For most industries, the direct use of electricity in new energy vehicles has greater economic significance.

At the same time, Romain Sacchi, co-author of the Paul Scherrer Institute, said that we are still far from 100% renewable electricity. If we use hydrogen fuel instead of direct electricity, achieving the same goal requires 2 to 14 times the amount of electricity generated, depending on the application and the respective technology.

Japan and South Korea are developing hydrogen energy models. In 2020, Toyota Motor will launch the second-generation Toyota Mirai with a maximum cruising range of 850 kilometers (WLTC standard) in Japan.

Toyota Motor announced in February this year. Developed a hydrogen fuel cell system module package. Hyundai Motor of South Korea launched its proprietary fuel cell system brand “HTWO” in 2020.

In China, Great Wall Motors and SAIC, as representatives of Chinese car companies, are constantly conquering the technical problems of hydrogen energy, and most brands are still focusing on new energy as their main offensive direction.