The failure of new technologies in real-world environments is not unheard of. But for the hydrogen car industry, it came at one of the worst times: In 2019, California was investing heavily in hydrogen refueling infrastructure, attracting global automakers and major oil and gas companies to the state. .
At the time, Toyota was pushing for more fueling infrastructure to support adoption of the Toyota Mirai, one of the first hydrogen fuel cell light-duty consumer cars to hit the market.
So Toyota partnered with both Iwatani and oil major Shell to build more service stations. Shell hired Nel as a supplier for the station, and both Iwatani and Chevron partnered with Nel soon after. Representatives for Shell and Iwatani did not respond to requests for comment.
Lewis Fulton, director of the Energy Futures Program at the University of California, Davis, says equipment failures in the passenger segment have led to a “near system collapse” in California. In addition to the abandoned Iwatani stations, Shell in February completely closed its seven hydrogen fueling stations in California and canceled plans to build 48 stations in the state.
Chevron had hired Nel to create 16 stations, but did not provide an answer about the status of those stations. The extent to which Nel provided the technology for these major players has not been previously reported.
Meanwhile, Toyota, which has since deprioritized the California market for the Mirai, is facing a class-action lawsuit from many drivers who have already purchased the hydrogen-powered vehicle. The lawsuit claims that, contrary to Toyota’s promises, hydrogen fuel for its cars is increasingly difficult to obtain, making the Mirai “unsafe, unreliable and inoperable.” Toyota did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell AssociationThere are 55 hydrogen fueling stations in California, but many of them experience frequent downtime. None of the hydrogen fueling stations provided by Nel are currently operational. The only operating gas stations in Iwatani were built by Linde, a large industrial gas company.
Meanwhile, Fulton says California has focused on building infrastructure for heavy vehicles like trucks and buses, in hopes that the passenger market can restart with the help of a growing freight market.
By focusing on the heavy-duty vehicle market, California can, in theory, create a stronger supply of clean hydrogen that reduces costs and increases availability, says Fulton, who is also an advisor to Arches, the California hydrogen center that has earned $1.2 billion. conditional funding from the US Department of Energy.