If you are still swinging between the pros and cons of buying an electric car, things seem to have become more complicated with Toyota’s new launch in India, the Mirai. It is not an electric car, but it doesn't have an engine, either. The Mirai runs on power generated by a hydrogen fuel cell. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who attended the launch, was so impressed that he wanted to buy one.
Hydrogen cars are a lot similar to electric cars. Both do not have engines. The electric motors used in both these types are fundamentally the same; so the driving experience would not be much different. The difference, however, is, electric cars draw power from a rechargeable battery, while hydrogen cars draw power from a hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen cars have tanks to keep liquid hydrogen, the fuel (just like petrol cars have petrol tanks). Electric cars do not have fuel tanks, obviously.
Hydrogen as fuel
The hydrogen fuel cell combines hydrogen and air (oxygen) to produce electricity. The exhaust product is pure water. The fuel cell sends power directly to the motors. There is usually a battery on board, too, which saves power to meet the additional power requirements to accelerate.
The advantage
The biggest advantage hydrogen cars have over electric cars is they don’t need to be charged. Liquid hydrogen can be filled the same way you fill petrol or diesel at a fuel station.
Are they green?
The only emission from hydrogen cars is pure water. But a lot of power is needed to produce hydrogen; so they are not as clean as they seem. However, a lot of investment is going into making green hydrogen.
