Ford weighs up the advantages of hydrogen

摘要

Fuel cells won't have a future, says Ford, if batteries become good enough or affordable enough to power an electric vehicle for 500km. If the current rate of development is maintained, that could be by 2020.rnNissan expects lithium-ion to deliver a 400km range by 2015. Ford is using downsized fuel cells as range extenders for Li-ion battery-powered vehicles. GM is taking a similar approach.rnFord's Aachen technical centre team leader for hydrogen and fuel cell technology, Dr Roland Kriiger, said: "If we hacVa battery which fulfils all the requirements including fast recharge time, volume andrnweight then there's no need for a fuel cell at all."rnKriiger can't see this happening, though. He predicts battery electric vehicles will have ranges of up to 200km only - recharge times will be a barrier to customer acceptance.