Automotive News Canada - October 2020 - 16

* OCTOBER 2020

Where are all
the hydrogen
fuel cell cars?

Hyundai has sold 27 fuel cell vehicles in Canada since 2015,
including 13 Nexo models, pictured. P H O T O : H Y U N D A I C A N A D A

The zero-emission
technology has been
touted as the future,
but little progress on
refuelling infrastructure
has been made

Hydrogen still
has oxygen as
an EV player
in Canada

By STEVE MERTL

VA N C O U V E R C O R R E S P O N D E N T

AS SALES OF BATTERY-ELECTRIC
and hybrid vehicles grow, hydrogen
fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) still
seem parked in tomorrow country,
hobbled by daunting commercialization costs and creeping development of
refuelling networks in Canada.
Hydrogen power seemed just around
the corner in the late 1990s, with predictions that by 2005, Canadians would
be able to buy a true zero-emission
vehicle combining hydrogen with air
to produce electricity. The only byproduct was water vapour.
Grace Quan was a foreign-service
officer working with the Canadian
International Development Agency
when she was infected with enthusiasm about FCEVs, thanks to publicity
of the pioneering work by Vancouverbased Ballard Power Systems.
"The next car I'm going to get is a
Jaguar with a Ballard fuel cell in it,"
Quan, co-founder of a startup focusing
on hydrogen storage, recalled. Ballard
Power Systems is a B.C.-based company with four decades experience in fuel
cell development.
"I haven't had a car in 20 years
because of that fruitless vow."

HYDROGEN SALES STALL
Consider this: Toyota and Honda
introduced their hybrid Prius and
Insight models, respectively, in Canada
in 2000. Statistics Canada figures show
more than 86,000 new hybrid and battery-electric passenger vehicles were
registered in 2019. Only 175 or so FCEVs
were on Canadian roads, according to
Natural Resources Canada.
The handful of automakers offering FCEVs restrict sales to markets
where public refuelling is available. In
Canada, that means British Columbia,
which has four operating stations and
three planned, and Quebec, with one
station and another in the works.
Steve Flamand, Hyundai Canada's
director of product and corporate strategy, said the company has sold or
leased 27 fuel cell vehicles here since
2015: 14 Tucson and 13 newer Nexo
crossovers.
"That [Nexo] is wide open to the

Grace Quan is trying to find a cheaper approach to hydrogen refuelling through
her startup, Hydrogen in Motion. P H O T O V I A G R A C E Q U A N

public and not restricted to leasing,
not restricted to three-year terms,"
Flamand said. "This is the real deal in
terms of full commercialization."
All but one Nexo, with a starting
price of around $73,000 before provincial
and federal incentives, went to B.C. customers. The other is operated by TEQ, a
Quebec agency focused on transitioning
to clean energy.
Toyota Canada offers its first-generation Mirai sedan for sale or lease at
a cash purchase price of about $47,000
including taxes and incentives. Fifty-six
are on Quebec roads, mainly in fleets,
and the rest in B.C.

CHARGING'S CHEAPER
One reason for slow FCEV growth
becomes evident when comparing the
cost of building a hydrogen refuelling
station against an EV charge point.
The price tag for a hydrogen station can be up to $2 million, including site preparation, said Angela Das,
director of advanced transportation at
Powertech Labs Inc. The subsidiary
of Crown-owned BC Hydro builds and
installs the stations.
A basic direct-current public charger, which Powertech also makes, costs
roughly $120,000.
Hoping to speed things, Hyundai,
Toyota and Honda have partnered with
hydrogen suppliers and government to
subsidize construction and operation
of refuelling stations. Much of the cost
is in the high-pressure compressor and
related safety systems.
And then there's Grace Quan, who
Toyota Canada has put 56
first-generation Mirai sedans
(2021 model pictured)
on the roads in Quebec and
British Columbia.
P H O T O : T O Y O TA

never lost her enthusiasm. She left public service in 2013 to co-found Hydrogen
In Motion (H2M). It's trying an end run
around refuelling obstacles by developing a cheaper approach using lower pressure.
Researchers at the Vancouver startup are working on a nano material that
would hold hydrogen in a lightweight
tank.
"It's like a sponge," Quan said. "You
flow the gas over it and it sticks to the
material. You can actually get a smaller,
safer, cheaper tank."
H2M hopes to demonstrate the technology this year and is working with a
French investment bank on a $12-million
share offering so it can scale up to produce commercial-ready tanks.
"Low-pressure stations will dramatically drive down the cost of the stations and
the tanks as well," Quan said.

FUEL CELLS NEED FUNDING
Lengthy automotive design cycles mean
vehicles compatible with low-pressure
systems are unlikely to reach production
soon, leaving the immediate future tied to
existing technology and a willingness to
fund it.
In July, the federal government
released a hydrogen strategy that touted Canadian leadership in the sector. It
contained no new funding commitments
beyond the $130 million in infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles and consumer incentives to purchase vehicles in
March's budget.
There's a lot of "virtue signaling"
from stakeholders that often doesn't
translate into investment, especially in
cutting-edge technology such as H2M's,
Quan said.
"We've been trying to raise funds forever, and it's such an uphill battle."
Quan does finally have an FCEV to
drive, though, a Nexo leased to H2M from
Hyundai. - ANC

ALTHOUGH HYDROGEN
fuel cell vehicles are not present in large numbers, Canada
remains an important player in
fuel cell electric vehicle technology and its building blocks.
Ballard Power Systems,
which turned 40 last year,
today focuses on heavy-duty
commercial applications that
include buses, trucks and forklifts. However, the Vancouver
company's 2013 agreement with
Volkswagen Group, renewed
last year through 2022, allows
it to work mainly with Audi on
fuel cell-stack development and
system integration.
Spokesman Guy McAree
said Ballard has smaller programs with several other global automakers that it can't discuss.
Mercedes-Benz Canada's
Fuel Cell Division opened
in 2012 a stone's throw from
Ballard's operation in the
Vancouver suburb of Burnaby,
B.C. The division produces
fuel cell stacks and subassemblies for commercial vehicles
for parent Daimler AG and
develops fuel cells for passenger cars.
HTEC, based in North
Vancouver, builds and operates public hydrogen refuelling
stations, with six in B.C. built
or planned so far. Powertech
Labs Inc., a unit of BC Hydro,
fabricates the refuelling systems themselves. Powertech is
responsible for all six systems
in B.C., one in Quebec and
three in California.
Mississauga, Ont.-based
Hydrogenics Corp., owned by
Cummins Inc., designs and
builds hydrogen-generation
equipment, storage systems and
fuel cells for commercial applications.
Air Liquide, a major seller
of industrial gases, is building
the world's largest electrolyzer plant in Becancour, Que.,
leveraging the province's
ample hydroelectric power
to produce hydrogen. Most
hydrogen currently comes
from petrochemical sources.
- ANC

Automotive News Canada - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - October 2020