Hydrogen fuel cells are more promising, lithium batteries have pollution, and hydrogen fuel cells generate kinetic energy through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, which is non-polluting. Lithium batteries and hydrogen fuel cells each have their pros and cons. Broken down, the two have their own advantages in terms of charging/refueling time, pollution levels, cruising range, charging station costs and battery costs. For example, hydrogen fuel cells can be refueled in just a few minutes, but lithium batteries typically take more than an hour even with overcharging. For example, Tesla V3 Supercharger, although it can have extremely fast charging speed, it does not represent the general situation.
As for the pollution level and cruising range, needless to say, these are the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells. Lithium-ion batteries have always been difficult to break through the bottleneck of cruising range, and they also cause pollution. However, because lithium batteries are more mature, their charging station costs and battery costs are much lower than hydrogen fuel cells. According to research, the construction cost of a hydrogen refueling station is approximately equal to the construction cost of five lithium battery charging stations (excluding later maintenance).
Let me say that these two types of batteries have great prospects, but their future development directions will be different. Lithium batteries are more suitable for passenger cars, while hydrogen fuel cells are more suitable for commercial vehicles. In a similar conclusion, Professor Ouyang Minggao of Tsinghua University (academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) mentioned at the 2018 Hydrogen Energy Industry Innovation and Development Forum: “Through various practices, lithium-ion battery systems are more suitable to replace gasoline engines, and hydrogen Fuel cell systems are more suitable to replace diesel engines. This is why current technology research is focused on fuel cell commercial vehicles.”
Since China is the largest new energy market in the future, most automobile companies will develop new energy vehicles in the future. Hydrogen fuel cells will be included in the 7-year plan (2020-2025), and they will basically appear on the list of commercial vehicles.