Failure of novel technologies in real-world settings is not unheard of. But for the hydrogen car industry, it came at one of the worst times: In 2019, California was investing heavily in hydrogen refueling infrastructure, attracting global automakers and oil and gas majors to the state. done
At the time, Toyota was pushing for a more fuel-efficient infrastructure to support the use of the Toyota Mirai, one of the first light-duty consumer hydrogen fuel cell cars to hit the market.
So Toyota partnered with both Iwatani and oil giant Shell to build more fueling stations. Shell brought in Nel as a station supplier, and both Iwatani and Chevron soon partnered with Nel. Representatives for Shell and Ivani did not respond to requests for comment.
Lewis Fulton, director of the Energy Futures Program at the University of California, Davis, says equipment failures on the passenger side have led to “near system collapse” in California. In addition to the abandoned Iwatani stations, Shell completely closed seven of its California hydrogen fueling stations in February and canceled plans to build 48 more stations in the state.
Chevron contracted Nel to build 16 stations, but did not comment on the status of those stations. The extent to which Nel has provided technology to these major players has not been previously reported.
Meanwhile, Toyota, which has prioritized the California market for the Mirai, is facing a class-action lawsuit from many drivers who had already purchased a hydrogen-powered vehicle. The lawsuit claims that, contrary to Toyota’s promises, hydrogen fuel for its cars is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, making the Mirai “unsafe, unreliable and unusable.” Toyota did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership, there are 55 hydrogen fueling stations in California, but most of them experience frequent shutdowns. None of the hydrogen fueling stations supplied by Nel are currently operational. Iwatani’s only working refueling stations were built by Linde, a large industrial gas company.
In the meantime, Fulton says California has pushed to build infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, hoping that a growing freight market can help the passenger market rebound. .
By focusing on the heavy-duty market, California could, in theory, create a strong supply of clean hydrogen that lowers costs and increases availability, says Fulton, who is also an adviser to California’s hydrogen center Arches. , which won $1.2 billion. Conditional funding from the US Department of Energy.
