After the National Two Sessions this year, the heat of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) has risen sharply along with summer temperatures, reaching a new height since May 2018, and information on policies, regulations, plans, products, etc. are flooding. This kind of enthusiasm is unprecedented, and it temporarily overshadowed the pure electric vehicle driven by power battery (hereinafter referred to as BEV) that was almost synonymous with new energy vehicles in the past 10 years. Recently, it is obvious that FCEV is no longer a cold meal, but a sweet pastry; FCEV does not seem to be so unattainable, but can be obtained on tiptoe. Since BEV has not been widely recognized by the people for a long time, FCEV has the momentum to replace it and become the new protagonist of the new energy automobile industry. From June 13th to 14th, the Chongqing International Auto Show forum focused on "BEV and FCEV, who is the mainstream new energy vehicle in the future", which proves that many people in the industry have felt that FCEV is starting to have a fever. sign.

BEV is not upbeat enough, leaving FCEV with the opportunity to take the lead. As we all know, if there is no license and subsidy policy support, BEV's situation will be very unsatisfactory. Many consumers have not yet accepted BEV for three reasons: the actual driving range is not up to the level of fuel vehicles, the charging is slow and inconvenient, and the safety is not reassuring. This is also not long ago, the state stipulated that electric vehicles should be on fire. The reason why the occupants in the car must be given 5 minutes to escape. Of course, the whole world has been looking for power battery technology solutions with higher energy density and better safety, such as new electrode materials and solid batteries, but no one can say when the people can let their guard down. Fast charging will shorten the battery life, and I have never heard of anyone who can completely eliminate this drawback and can only leave it to the future. The use of heavy-duty, long-distance, and zero-emission scenarios is none other than FCEV, which has long been a consensus in the industry, because the radius of activity of BEVs is limited.

The author believes that there is still a big social obstacle to popularizing BEV in big cities: the vast majority of citizens live in high-rise buildings, and it is impossible for every household to have an exclusive charging pile in a residential area. It is also difficult to achieve an average of two or three charging piles. The scene of charging piles in the community is unimaginable. If the main streets are transformed into "electromagnetic charging + 5G" type of traffic, information and energy flow, the obstacles to charging will be removed, but it is said that this method of charging while walking is not efficient. The charging troubles cannot be eliminated, leaving FCEV with a chance to catch up.

In recent years, although ordinary hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) cannot enjoy consumer subsidies, their performance advantages have accumulated a deeper and deeper reputation, and sales have continued to grow at a high speed, which is in sharp contrast with the weak growth or even continuous decline of BEV. The biggest feature of HEV is that the use method is the same as that of ordinary fuel vehicles, and it achieves a seamless connection with usage habits. FCEV also has this feature. The author believes that in the future, even if the energy consumption cost of BEV is the lowest, if the charging problem cannot be solved, even if the energy consumption cost of FCEV is slightly higher, considering that hydrogenation is as convenient as refueling, most consumers will still prefer to buy FCEV . Of course, there are four main issues facing FCEV: the reliability and service life of fuel cells must reach the level of fuel vehicles, hydrogen refueling must be as convenient as refueling, gas prices must be similar to oil prices, and car prices must be comparable Fuel vehicles are similar.

The current situation shows that developing a hydrogen energy economy and building a hydrogen energy society have almost become the common pursuit of all major economies in the world. Nowadays, not only various vehicle and ship products and construction machinery are interested in hydrogen energy, but even airplanes have to burn hydrogen. In mid-June, Airbus announced that it would launch a "hydrogen passenger jet" in 2035. The mission of hydrogen energy is to replace carbon-containing non-renewable fossil energy such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and become a new cornerstone of the entire society and economic operation. It can be used as a chemical raw material for steelmaking and power generation. Fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen to generate electricity. It has a wide range of uses. FCEV is only one of its biggest users. As the "decarbonization" of various industries continues to accelerate, the supply of hydrogen will become more extensive, hydrogenation will become more and more convenient, and the price of hydrogen will drop rapidly.

my country's policies and regulations have begun to exert intensive efforts. Just before the National Congress of the People’s Republic of China and the National People’s Congress, on April 30, the "Energy Law" was released for comments, listing hydrogen energy as an energy source, which removed the largest obstacle to the extensive construction of hydrogen refueling stations. After the two sessions, on June 1, China National People's Congress website announced that this year will formulate a national hydrogen energy industry development strategy plan. Immediately, many places formulated and released hydrogen energy economic development plans. The author believes that more local governments will follow up. On June 2nd, the national standard "Test and Evaluation Method for the Service Life of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stacks for Vehicles" was officially released, stipulating the method for testing the durability of the stack for the first time. This national standard will be formally implemented on December 1 this year. In mid-June, the national standard "Technical Specifications for Hydrogen Refueling Stations (Draft for Partial Revised Provisions)" was publicly solicited from the public. The safety of hydrogen refueling stations will no longer be unreliable and its construction will enter a stage of rapid development.

The "ultimate car" of FCEV is speeding towards us. At the same time, BEV is not only strengthening its advantages in the passenger vehicle field, but also rapidly expanding into the commercial vehicle field. Not long ago, Tesla released the wind-"it's time to launch electric heavy trucks." Last year was the first year of the outbreak of the domestic electric heavy-duty truck market, and mainstream heavy-duty truck companies launched electric heavy-duty trucks focusing on short-distance transportation. Next year is expected to be the first year of the domestic FCEV heavy truck market.

Recently, Volkswagen, the world's largest car company, has been making frequent moves in the field of power batteries, apparently betting on BEV. Since last year, Volkswagen has smashed nearly 20 billion yuan to invest in three battery companies in Europe, the United States, and China. At the same time, it is down on FCEV. This year, Toyota began to produce and sell BEVs in China. On June 5, it signed a joint venture contract with five Chinese enterprise networks to jointly promote FCEV technology. Volkswagen and Toyota seem to be betting on the future at Huahao. A Japanese media likened this situation to "dragon and tiger fight." In fact, this is a battle between two technical routes, and who can meet the needs of the market. Before the market is divided, only the benevolent can see the benevolent and the wise. In terms of new energy vehicle technology, Toyota has the most comprehensive and strongest brands, and Volkswagen is the "back wave". It is catching up with Toyota and is also developing HEV. Its MAN heavy-duty truck is developing electrified models, but the power battery must be added first. Weaknesses of the core system. Did Volkswagen really give up FCEV? It is estimated that it is not sincere, but it is not enough at this stage. In the field of new energy vehicles, Volkswagen is anxious and Toyota is calm, and the roots need to be traced back more than 20 years ago.