29 Dec Hydrogen vehicles focused on urban mobility
Hydrogen vehicles focused on urban mobility
In recent times, multiple alternatives are being sought to make urban transport and mobility considerably more sustainable in order to help alleviate the damage already inflicted on the atmosphere. This is precisely where hydrogen vehicles come into play.
In this respect, it seems that hydrogen vehicles are set to play a major role. They are expected to replace combustion cars within a decade. That is why we at Consman are continuously training in the updates of these systems.
Hydrogen vehicles are closer than we might think
Surprising as it may seem, hydrogen has been used in cars for many years. In fact, the modules used in NASA’s Apollo missions already used electronic instruments that were powered by hydrogen fuel cells. And that was more than 60 years ago. Today, however, hydrogen vehicles are the hot favourites to dominate city mobility. Why? Let’s look at it.
How do hydrogen fuel cells work?
Hydrogen cars, like electric cars, use fuel cells to make the electric motor work. In the case of hydrogen vehicles, the battery is powered by this gas. Usually, these cells use a proton-exchanging membrane that is placed between a cathode and an anode, that is, two electrodes-one positive and one negative-.
When hydrogen enters the anode and oxygen into the cathode, hydrogen molecules are converted into protons and electrons by a reaction that causes a catalyst that is usually platinum. The protons then penetrate the membrane until they reach the cathode core, and then the electrons reach an outer circuit so that they feed the car. Finally, protons, oxygen and electrons use the cathode to combine with each other and generate water.
Hydrogen vehicles are much more efficient
Those vehicles that are oriented to the mobility of people in the city and that are powered by hydrogen are considerably more efficient than those that use traditional internal combustion (in fact, the percentage is 60% for the first and 20-30% for the second). To top it off, the hydrogen car does not emit harmful gases, only hot water and air.
Another reason why hydrogen vehicles are more efficient is that they don’t emit annoying noises either, even when driving with them faster. The reason is the absence of mechanical elements or combustion in them. Moreover, they are easily scalable. This means that they can accumulate energy depending on the size of the vehicle to be moved and also the charging time is much less compared to electric cars, just between 20 and 30 minutes.
At Consman we are convinced that sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility is possible, as long as we continue to make progress to make all these alternatives available.
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