Fuel Cell or Battery: Electric Cars are the Future

Battery and hybrid vehicles are today's sustainable mobility solutions, preparing a future shared with a hydrogen economy. The summary report of the EU High Level Group for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, presented in June 2003, develops a vision on the contribution that hydrogen and fuel cells could make to the realization of sustainable energy systems in the future [1]. However, it seems necessary to emphasize that, as it is a long-term vision (2000-2050), there is a need to take strong action in the short- and medium-term in order to address current environmental and energy concerns. As stated in the Commission's November 2000 Green Paper on security of supply [2], in 1998 energy consumption in the transport sector was responsible for 28% of the emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas. According to the latest estimates, current CO2 emissions from transport are expected to increase by around 50%. It is both an ecological necessity and a technological challenge to reduce the dependence on oil, from the current level of 98%, by using alternative fuels and improving the energy efficiency of the various methods of transport [3]. It is planned that the hydrogen economy will only start around 2020, at the earliest, and to be established around 2050. Fortunately, many of the electric drive technologies common with hydrogen drive systems are already in development today and implemented in battery or hybrid electric vehicles. Two transport technologies are ready to play a significant role in this context: the battery electric vehicle and the thermal hybrid electric vehicle. They are the missing link with a future hydrogen transportation economy. It is an established fact that, from a well to wheel emission point of view, the results are positive and in favour of battery electric vehicles [4]. Important and recent studies on the environmental balance of battery electric vehicles show substantial emission and primary energy benefits, and thus CO2 reduction, when compared with conventional cars [4, 5]. The battery electric vehicles and thermal hybrid electric vehicles are considered as the bridge to the future hydrogen transport economy. In any case, the hydrogen and electricity vectors should be used in the most appropriate and effective way to ensure, for the various applications, the optimum mix of the primary energy sources at a European level.