US infrastructure for hydrogen-vehicles two decades away

Several car makers, including Honda, Lexus, Audi and Toyota, have developed hydrogen-powered vehicles that have two distinct advantages over EVs: they have better ranges (typically around 300-400 miles) and faster re-fuelling (three minutes). However, the drawback is refuelling infrastructure that, according to Toyota's national advanced technology manager, will take "the next decade or two" to develop. There are a few stations across the US, but most stations are to be found in California, due to the collobration between the California Fuel Cell Partnership and the California Hydrogen Highway programme; Toyota is working on building a network of 12 stations on the East Coast; and Honda is working on a home hydrogen producing station, in addition to a partnership with GM to develop next-gen fuel cell systems and hydrogen storage technology by 2020.

64 Toyota Mirais have been sold in California as of Jan. 14, 2016. Toyota

We're starting to see more automakers turn their attention to hydrogen-powered cars.

On Thursday, Honda announced it would being selling its hydrogen-powered sedan, the Honda Clarity, in California by the end of 2016.

Additionally, at the Detroit Auto Show in early January, Lexus showed off its hydrogen-powered LF-LC concept car and Audi showed off its hydrogen-powered concept car the h-tron quattro.

And then there's Toyota, which has been working on hydrogen-powered cars for 23 years and has sold 64 of the Toyota Mirais in California as of January 14, a Toyota spokesperson told Tech Insider.

All these developments beg the question: are hydrogen-powered cars better that traditional battery-powered vehicles?

Technically, yes, they are — but there's a catch.

What makes them better

Simply put, hydrogen-powered cars have a better range and charge faster than traditional battery-powered vehicles.

Teslas are arguably the cream of the crop when it comes to battery-powered vehicles. The Tesla Model X can run 257 miles on a single charge with a 90 kWh battery.

But that's if you're willing to spend $132,000 or more. Most electric cars have a range at or under 100 miles and cost under $50,000.

The Tesla Model X. Tesla Motors

The Tesla Model X could get you from Queens, New York to Washington D.C. before needing a charge, but most battery-powered vehicles couldn't even get you from Queens to Philadelphia on a single charge.

Compare that hydrogen vehicles like the Honda Clarity that can achieve a 400-mile range. Or Audi's h-tron quattro concept car, which has a 372-mile range. (There's no word yet on how far the Lexus LF-LC could go).

That means both of those hydrogen-powered cars could get you from Queens to around the Petersburg, Virginia area before needing to refuel.

And even if you're looking at the Tesla and thinking that range isn't too bad (which it's not for a battery-powered vehicle), you're still looking at a fairly long charge time.

AP/Shizuo Kambayashi

Tesla's supercharger for the Model S will give you 170 miles in 30 minutes. That's great for battery-powered cars, but imagine your routine of going to the gas station now — you certainly aren't there for 30 whole minutes, and you certainly get more than 170 miles out of it.

Hydrogen-powered cars, however, get a range of over 300 miles and can be refueled in as little as three minutes.

"With a fuel cell vehicle you don't have those same limitations — you have over 300 miles and can go to the station and recharge in three minutes," Craig Scott, national advanced technology manager for Toyota, told Tech Insider. "It performs like a gas vehicle."

So what's the catch?

The Audi h-tron quattro. Audi

The problem with hydrogen-powered cars is there's no infrastructure to support them. You can't exactly go anywhere to fill up your fuel cell tank.

Automakers will argue that strides are being made in developing that infrastructure.

"We didn't go from horse drawn buggies to Ferraris overnight, so let's keep perspective in mind and know this is a transformation and it's a phase change and we are not expecting results tomorrow, but in the next decade or two," Scott said.

The hydrogen filling stations necessary to recharge the car are mostly only available in California due to the California Fuel Cell Partnership and the California Hydrogen Highway program, which is why the Toyota Mirai (and eventually the Honda Clarity) is sold in California only. Although there are a couple other stations scattered across the United States, like in Burlington, Vermont.

So far there are 49 hydrogen stations throughout California that are either already open or are slated to open in the future, according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership webpage.

"That's obviously just the beginning — there are 9,000 gas stations in California," Scott said.

Toyota is currently working on building a network of 12 stations across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, Scott said.

Elon Musk when he called hydrogen fuel cells "incredibly dumb." YouTube/Every Elon Musk Video

Honda is also working on a "Smart Hydrogen Station" that would allow you to produce hydrogen at home, but there's no timeline on when that will be ready yet. The automaker also entered an agreement with General Motors in 2013 to develop next-generation fuel cell systems and hydrogen storage technology by 2020.

So keeping all of that in mind, an infrastructure is slowly being worked on. But battery-powered cars have an edge when it comes to an infrastructure because car companies simply had to add charging points to an already-built electric grid.

And that's something Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out when he boldly declared hydrogen fuel cells are "incredibly dumb" last year.

"I just think that they're extremely silly....it's just very difficult to make hydrogen and store it and use it in a car," Musk said. "If you say took a solar panel and use that...to just charge a battery pack directly, compared to split water, take hydrogen, dump oxygen, compress hydrogen...it is about half the efficiency."

He also added that you can't tell when hydrogen is leaking and that it's extremely flammable. When it catches fire, hydrogen has an invisible flame.

That being said...

Musk's assertion that "the best case hydrogen fuel cell doesn't win against the current case batteries" seems to be holding less weight as technological advancements are made.

The Honda Clarity Honda

Automakers involved in making hydrogen-powered cars have shown that the technology provides a longer range, shorter charge time, and has the added benefit of having zero emissions.

What will really determine if these cars catch ground beyond California is if a mass network of filling stations can be accomplished.

"If society's goals are to reduce carbon from the transportation side, they only have a few options and from out point of view, the fuel cell is the most compelling one," Scott said.