Practical Fuel-Cell Vehicles

The future of fuel-cell vehicles is already happening in an unlikely proving ground: forklifts used in warehouses. Several manufacturers are testing forklifts powered by a combination of fuel cells and batteries — and finding that these hybrids perform far better than the lead-acid battery systems now typically used. In some situations, in fact, they could pay for themselves in cost savings and added productivity within two or three years.

The adoption of the technology points to a promising hybrid strategy for finally making fuel cells economically practical for all sorts of vehicles. While researchers have speculated for years that hydrogen fuel cells could power clean, electric vehicles, cutting emissions and decreasing our dependence on oil, manufacturing fuel cells big enough to power a car is prohibitively expensive — one of the main reasons they are not yet in widespread use. But by relying on batteries or ultracapacitors to deliver peak power loads, such as for acceleration, fuel cells can be sized as much as four times smaller, slashing manufacturing costs and helping to bring fuel cell-powered vehicles to market.

Technology Review