Mercedes does not see prospects for fuel cell vehicles Bashny.Net

At the conference in Stuttgart head of business unit Mercedes-Benz Cars Dieter Zetsche announced that the fuel elements are no longer part of the long term plans of the company. This happened just 6 weeks after the announcement of the establishment of a joint venture to develop fuel cell technology together with Toyota and BMW.

 





According to Zetsche, the advantage, which few years ago was from fuel cells to electric batteries, is gone. Today, advancements in technology in the battery industry pushed hydrogen fuel cells, especially when it comes to the price. "The cost of batteries is falling rapidly, while the production of hydrogen still remains expensive", — he said. Plus, electric vehicles can be recharged at home or at work, hydrogen transport requires replacement of the entire infrastructure.

At the end of this or early next year, Mercedes is still going to release GLC SUV on hydrogen cells, but it is intended primarily for fleet operators that have their own filling system. Otherwise, as said Zetsche, fuel items remain "an interesting solution", but will not be commercially successful as long as the price of hydrogen fuel will not fall.

Elon Musk always sharply negatively responded about hydrogen fuel. "Hydrogen is a storage mechanism for energy, not its source. You need somewhere to get it. If you get the hydrogen from water, that is break down the water, electrolysis is extremely inefficient as an energy process. If you take the solar panel and its energy is used to just charge the batteries directly, it will be two times more efficient than splitting water to separate hydrogen, discard the oxygen, compress the hydrogen under high pressure (or transfer it to a liquid state), and then put it in the car. Why do so? It makes no sense," said Musk at the Congress Automotive News World Congress 2 years ago.





Now it's Dieter Zetsche agree with the Musk. The causes of this sudden change in plans, the company said.

At the Paris motor show in autumn 2016 Mercedes has announced that it plans by 2025 to produce more than 10 electric cars, including at least two of a sedan and crossover. The company has recently updated this information, saying that expedite the implementation of its promises and handle by 2022, spending an additional $10 billion published

 

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

Source: hightech.fm/2017/04/03/mercedes-no-h2