How Fuel Cell Vehicles Work – CES 2015

In light of Toyota’s recent announcement at CES 2015 that they would be making all of their fuel cell patents available for free, we decided it was a good time to explore the science behind this technology. So we spoke with some experts at CES to help us gain a better understanding of how hydrogen fuel cell vehicles work and why we should be excited about their potential for the future.

What do YOU think about fuel cells? Are they the future of cars? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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[damazywlodarczyk]

toyota is sharing its ip because now its not profitable, no hydrogen fuel stations, no infrastructure, the priority is to integrate the technology any way possible into the world, and its impossible if toyota does it alone, so sharing the technology is actually an investment, but toyota will stay as a leader in the market

[Spleenatron]

this sounds amazing. it sounds difficult but practical and could solve a lot of our problems in the future. definitely a topic to keep an eye on and im looking forward to seeing what people are capable of creating with this technology. as usual great vid, you guys always blow my mind.

[jessemckamey]

Tesla, nor Toyota was the first for either of these ideas. Electric cars were actually the first mock up off the line back when Ford began production and have been available off and on, to this day. Hydrogen power has been in research at least since the late '80s. It's funny to read these comments from people that haven't been alive long enough to know, or that just didn't pay attention or do the research. None of these ideas are new. Self driving tech was touched on in the 50s and Mercedes and Ford motors have both been doing self driving R&D since the late 80s. Just because some companies utilize public media, doesn't mean they thought of it first.

[ronaldrstewart]

I think there are awesome opportunities in this technology if the transition goes slowly to allow current workers within all the industries affected to learn where they can be in the new system.

[DeathByFail]

regardless of any ulterior motives on Toyota's part, i'm really glad that they are taking this step, its incredibly helpful for innovation and all that stuffs.

[RichardDenisRichman]

First tesla open sourced and now Toyota, whom made loads of profits on there stocks. Now I see were some that money went! This is going to be an exciting future for sure now.
Time to do some reading..

[RayDrouillard]

I was crazy about fuel cells and electric cars when I was in high school.  Since I graduated in 1979, that was a long time ago.

Hydrogen is hard to store.  That means that trying to run a regular internal combustion engine on the stuff will make it a real challenge to have a long range.

Also, since hydrogen is expensive (right now, ) running an IC engine on it will be expensive.

On the other hand, if you use a fuel cell (~60% efficiency) combined with electric motors (~90% efficiency, ) you can get a very economical car with a good range.

If Lockeed-Martin's fusion reactor pans out, we will get the much promised 'electricity too cheap to meter.'  That means that hydrogen will become MUCH cheaper.  Also, we will be able to produce it at home via electrolysis.

Also, electric motors are great for propelling a car.  They have high torque at low speeds.  In fact, they can produce torque even when stalled.  This eliminates the need for clutches.  The fact that they produce torque at any speed means that we don't need a shifter.  If we use a motor for each wheel, we don't need any differentials.  Putting a motor on each of the four wheels, and controlling them with a computer, allows us to have all of the advantages of a differential and a locked system at the same time.

[briansgalaxynote]

The thing about hydrogen to consider is that you can make it on your own. There are also new EV batteries way better than current 18650's that will be available in a few years.

[illiamanushyn]

Most likely they share 99% of pathents but 1% remains the most important

[DeFaulty]

Awesome that they got Michio Kaku to speak at the conference. :)

[rashadnagi]

hydrogen is amazing! but I think in the mean time, electricity is a vastly underutilized tool for transportation.

[atakashige]

I study fuel cell vehicles in univ now. I'm surprised this video took 5 yesrs ago! Now, the environment become more important. So I am pride Toyota as Japanese.

[tysoflowin]

"I don't say changed, but they need to be altered." Bruh, do you know what the definition of alter is? lol

[ZoranAUS]

researching how fuel cells work, ended up walking into a Toyota ad

[lukealsmith]

This looks like the only solution but fuel cell energy is incredibly unstable from where the electrons and neutrons transfer electricity to the motor. Lithium battery technology is a lot more efficient with less moving parts.

[NullaNulla]

I'd love to see this tested in Australia. Teslas would be exceptionally great in the cities but out in rural areas they just don't have enough juice to do the long hard runs to town and back for the shopping or going to market to buy/sell livestock etc. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with a larger capacity tank however could very well potentially go WELL beyond the Tesla shortfall and replace petrol/diesel.

Better yet if a commercially available solar driven mini plant could be made where you could fill your vehicle from home for free then the technology would have a REALLY strong chance given the cost of fossil fuels around here (around $1.60AUD/L atm). The ability to just plug the hose into the car when you get home and fill it for the next trip and actually have enough stored in a tank for the next refill with energy from the sun and water from the sky would be exceptional.

We at least are having a large drive on solar electricity now which is GREAT to see. It has a long way to go as 99% is still grid tied bydirectional metering etc but with LION battery tech and other polymers becoming cheaper and easier to get compared to years ago needing a large shed full of 2v lead acid batteries with REGULAR maintenance required our solar is finally coming to a point where we can look at having at least an auto grid/off grid switch where you remain off-grid unless and until your Tesla Wall and panels can't keep up (too much draw or bad weather) and then you are automatically switched 100% to the grid until the wall comes back up to a minimal level.

The future is starting to look a little brighter but the cost still needs to come down because at the moment it is out of range of low income earners.

[tomdixon]

Get around distribution issue by putting water in tank and converting it in house. Super insulate against extreme temperatures and use some passive solar to keep water in liquid state, for example.

[Mortagus]

how about the hydrogen production line ? is it going to be eco-friendly ?

[DarkstarDarth]

It truly is very exciting and a engineering milestone to finally develop and put into production a fuel cell car. No batteries and 300 mile range with a 3 to 5 minute charge and not worry about having all electronics including air conditioning on at the same time also not degrading range or torque....WOW!!!
I really hope more manufacturers also pick up this technology and hopefully we can all get off toxic fossil fuel and nuclear power sources. And with government incentives you get $14k discount. That's about $43k for a Less than a tesla. I applaud the years of dedication to all of those involved in this development.

[metric]

it doesn't matter how many years of fossil fuel we have left. The change is needed now. Hydrogen I think makes sense, especially if hydrogen is produced clean without the use of oil.... It can be done! I like the range factors with hydrogen and I like the fact were not filling the planet with battery cells? What do we do with all the dead batteries??