Lecture Series "Science with Impact" Battery or Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles - Technological, Economical, and Ecological Constraints for Sustainable Electromobility?

Prof. Dr. Hubert A. Gasteiger

Chair of Technical Electrochemistry, Chemistry Department, Technical University of Munich

Driven by global warming, the global community is seeking to expand and integrate renewable energy sources and to decarbonize the transportation sector, which has a significant share in the world-wide CO2 emissions. To address the latter, the development and deployment of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has been accelerated over the past 10 years. Nevertheless, significant short-comings of BEVs still have to be overcome to further increase their market penetration, particularly, driving range and rechargeability.

On the other hand, hydrogen can be used as energy carrier for temporary large-scale energy storage and for powering fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Proton exchange membrane (PEM) based water electrolyzers and fuel cells are nowadays the most promising candidates for the generation of high-pressure hydrogen and for powering FCEVs. However, both technologies currently require significant amounts of costly and supply-limited precious metals, which could restrict the large-scale implementation of PEM electrolyzers and fuel cells, so that improved catalyst and electrode concepts must be devised.

This presentation will discuss and compare the remaining challenges for BEVs and for H2 generation and use that still need to be tackled on the path towards sustainable electromobility.