As more carmakers are jumping on the fuel-cell bandwagon, industry experts are optimistic the technology will be commercially viable a decade from now.
A senior executive at auto industry supplier Robert Bosch believes fuel-cell technology will become cheaper and profitable for mass use in cars by 2025. Despite offering much longer driving ranges and refueling times, fuel-cell cars haven’t been too popular among automakers because of prohibitive development costs.
However, that may change in the next decade, as fuel cell production becomes more industrialized and costs are brought down thanks to greater economies of scale. “They are not out of the race. They are a viable alternative to other zero-emission vehicle technologies,” Wolf-Henning Scheider, head of Bosch’s automotive division, told Reuters.
The executive expects that the higher operating range of fuel-cell cars will make them a viable alternative to electric cars, despite being twice as expensive to produce in 2025. Currently Daimler, Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Toyota, Honda and GM are all developing fuel-cell vehicles.
Toyota and Honda plan to begin sales of fuel-cell vehicles next year. The first fuel-cell cars are expected to be priced at about $70,000 in the United States. However, analysts say that does not cover development costs for automakers, nor the expense of developing infrastructure, as filling stations cost more than $1 million each.
Note: 2016 Toyota Mirai and Honda FCV Concept pictured
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