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Time to add yet another acronym to your vocabulary: FCVs. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been praised as the next big breakthrough in clean automotive technology for years and just as fervently denounced because of the cost of the cells and other issues. A new report says they're coming after all.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be launched on a commercial scale in most of the world by 2014 and cumulative sales of fuel cell cars and trucks should hit almost 3 million worldwide in 10 years.
That prediction comes from cleantech market intelligence firm Pike Research. The report says increasing use of fuel cells in commercial vehicles points to a commercial-scale launch of FCV cars and trucks within four years in most of the world. Pike also says cumulative sales will top 2.8 million in 10 years.
Industry analyst Dave Hurst said "Fuel cell vehicles have been an elusive goal for the automotive industry, but they are on the verge of commercial reality. With substantial support from the largest automakers, the pressure is on gas companies and governments to make sure that hydrogen fueling stations are available to support this emerging market."
One of the primary attractions of FCVs is their emissions: oxygen, heat and a little water. Also, considerable amounts of money have gone into both public and private R&D. DOE has poured millions into fuel cell technologies and major automakers have done the same.
Hurst said Daimler AG, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota have been leading the push for FCVs for some time.
The report notes that Western Europe will see the most FCV sales with 37% of the global market, followed by the Asia Pacific region with 36%. FVC sales in North America are expected to be 25% of global sales between 2014 to 2020. FCV revenues are expected to hit $23.9 billion annually by 2020.
Topics covered in the report include current fuel cell technology, hydrogen as a fuel, global research and development spending, fuel cell transit buses and FCV production and sales. The report also covers key market drivers and players.
While they're not expected to eclipse the growth of the hybrid vehicle market anytime soon (not with 700,000 hybrids and electrics sold in 2009 alone), FCVs appear to be poised to make their market debut.
From the source ...
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