A hydrogen car is a type of vehicle that makes use of hydrogen as its on-board fuel. The hydrogen car is different from conventional vehicles running on fossil fuel in that it uses a different type of engine to allow hydrogen to produce the power needed to make the vehicle move. There are two ways that this can be done.

Hydrogen Combustion

A hydrogen car can be powered by burning hydrogen, much like what happens with fossil fuel when a car is running. The hydrogen internal combustion engine however is different that that used of fossil fuel cars. The hydrogen engine is actually a modified version of the traditional gasoline engine. The first engine of this kind was first patented in 1970 by Paul Dieges and has since been developed and improved further.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Another type of hydrogen car makes use of the hydrogen fuel cell for power. The use of hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to be highly efficient in terms of powering up a vehicle. But in this case, the hydrogen fuel cell works similar to a battery. It also contains two electrodes that is separated by a membrane. Oxygen passes over one electrode while hydrogen passes on the other.

The hydrogen that passes into the electrode acts as a catalyst that converts the hydrogen gas into negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions. The process allows the electrons to flow out of the cell and then produce electrical energy. Hydrogen ions that move out of the fuel cell combine with oxygen and produce water which can then be processed again to separate the hydrogen. In this way, it can be possible for fuel cells never to run out of power unlike conventional batteries.

Although the hydrogen fuel cells have the best potential to power hydrogen cars, its use still faces certain problems. For one, current hydrogen fuel cells are to expensive to produce and can be very fragile. Engineers today are still trying to design and create a type of hydrogen fuel cell that can be robust enough to withstand the bumps and the vibrations that come with traveling.

Future

What makes hydrogen cars so attractive as an alternative means for current fossil fuel cars is that it can run using a renewable energy resource. Unlike fossil fuels which can run out, hydrogen can be extracted even after being used especially in hydrogen fuel cells.

But there are quite a lot of things that require some attention especially if the hydrogen car is to replace today's standard vehicles. Setting up the right infrastructure as well as developing the technology needed to acquire, use and distribute hydrogen to the public may need to be looked into since no general plan yet in place.