The boss of MAN, the famous German truck manufacturer, announces: hydrogen is not viable and cannot overshadow 100% electric vehicles equipped with a battery. The reason is simple and applies to trucks as well as cars.
On social networks and among those around you, the “electric vs. hydrogen” war is surely raging. Some are impatiently awaiting the arrival of hydrogen cars before parting with their old gasoline or diesel car. The electric car would only be a transition to the hydrogen car.
But if you follow Survoltés assiduously, you must have already read articles explaining that the hydrogen car was a bad idea compared to the electric car equipped with a battery. This time, it’s Alexander Vlaskamp, the boss of MAN, a famous German truck manufacturer who says it.
MAN does not believe in hydrogen
Questioned by the Spanish media Expansion, the CEO of the famous company is blunt about hydrogen for the road transport industry. At issue: its energy efficiency and its production cost. The man indicates that “ hydrogen is not viable » before specifying that “ green hydrogen is not available for transport“.
On the subject of energy efficiency, the German boss recalls that battery electric motor technology is currently the most efficient, approaching an efficiency of 75%. Conversely, for the fuel cell (hydrogen), the efficiency is more around 25%.
Put another way, with the same amount of electricity available, it is possible to drive a battery-electric truck three times further than a hydrogen electric truck. Tesla has understood this well with its Semi, a 100% battery-electric truck that travels long distances.
The cost of hydrogen
The cost of producing green hydrogen is also a problem. It is in fact much more expensive to produce “clean” hydrogen, from renewable energies, than to produce electricity. One of the reasons is simple: green hydrogen is produced using electrolysis, a process that uses electricity. It is therefore necessarily cheaper to produce electricity than green hydrogen… which requires electricity.
The other reason for higher costs is to the hydrogen distribution and storage system. This requires a dedicated infrastructure, which is very underdeveloped at the moment. Which explains why the boss of MAN specifies that it is impossible, today, to buy green hydrogen for less than 13 to 14 euros per kg.
Hydrogen is expected elsewhere
And when green hydrogen becomes more widely available? “ It will be needed for the heavy steel, cement and plastic industry » specifies Alexander Vlaskamp. An argument already heard many times, notably from the mouth of Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, who also does not want hydrogen cars. For the same reasons.
However, it should be noted that MAN has diesel and electric trucks, as well as hydrogen trucks. For what ? Quite simply for “ test our hypothesis » according to the brand’s boss. He nevertheless adds that MAN “ will perhaps use green hydrogen in 2035, if it becomes sufficiently available, at an adequate price, with the necessary infrastructure“.
“It’s impossible to compete with battery electric technology”
Before dashing all the hopes that rest on hydrogen with a sentence that will resonate in the head of any financier “ It’s not a question of believing or not believing, it’s a question of numbers. It’s impossible to compete with battery electric technology. The total cost of ownership (TCO) will always be more favorable in electric vehicles“.
It is for all these reasons in particular that some experts believe that green hydrogen will be reserved for a few heavy means of transport, which cannot do without hydrogen. This is a question of aviation or maritime transport.
However, even in these areas, technological advances in the electric battery industry suggest that a battery-powered aircraft is no longer impossible. This is also one of the projects considered by Elon Musk a few years ago.