2024-09-26 PL-INT-2024-008822 GP 2045 Draft Comments - T. Keeney

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electric cars? With battery-powered e-cars, only eight percent of the energy is lost during transport before the electricity is stored in the vehicle's batteries. When the electrical energy is converted to drive the electric motor, another 18 percent is lost. Depending on the model, the battery-powered e-car thus achieves an efficiency of between 70 to 80 percent. In the case of the hydrogen-powered e-car, the losses are much greater: 45 percent of the energy is already lost during the production of hydrogen through electrolysis. Of this remaining 55 percent of the original energy, another 55 percent is lost when converting hydrogen into electricity within the vehicle. This means that the hydrogen-powered e-car only achieves an efficiency of between 25 to 35 percent, depending on the model." Volkswagen concludes, "From every angle of the environmental balance sheet, everything speaks for the battery-powered e-car. The technology is mature and ready for the mass market. The number of models is growing steadily. And with the battery-powered e-car, driving remains affordable. Current e-models are already at the price level of comparable combustion engine models. In contrast, the hydrogen car will always remain more expensive than the battery car- due to the complex technology and high fuel costs. Drivers already pay around nine to twelve euros per 100 kilometers for a hydrogen car, while battery cars cost only two to seven euros per 100 kilometers (depending on electricity prices in individual countries). And the topic of long-distance travel? That will soon no longer play a role. With the new generation of e-cars, ranges will increase to 400-to-600 kilometers, while charging will become increasingly faster. The conclusion is clear: in the case of the passenger car, everything speaks in favor of the battery and practically nothing speaks in favor of hydrogen. "No sustainable economy can afford to use twice the amount of renewable energy to drive with fuel cell passenger cars rather than battery-powered vehicles," says study leader Dietmar Voggenreiter. This is also the view of customers: In Germany there are already more than 130,000 battery cars on the road - but only 507 hydrogen cars..." A 2022 article states the following: "Fuel cells are less efficient, and lots of electricity is wasted producing hydrogen. The battery electric Nissan Leaf gets 123 miles per gallon equivalent, and the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai gets 79 miles per gallon equivalent; this does not include the wasted energy when producing green hydrogen. Most of the continued support for hydrogen (including for green hydrogen) stems from the fossil fuel industry. As of 2021 only 2 manufacturers offer hydrogen cars: the Toyota Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo. Honda stopped manufacturing the Clarity Fuel Cell in August 2021. The Frauenhofer ISI, one of the leading innovation research institutions in Europe and leading one in Germany has published a study a month ago in the publication Nature: "Hydrogen technology is unlikely to play a major role in sustainable road transport " The subtitle is "Technical and economic developments in battery and fast-charging technologies could soon make fuel cell electric vehicles, which run on hydrogen, superfluous in road transport." and it explains that when compared to battery-electric hydrogen is inefficient and uneconomical in ground transport," The Hawaii Electric Vehicle Association states the following in testimony to the State Legislature on a 2022 Bill to supply a $200,000 rebate for construction of Hydrogen refueling stations. "Hawaii EV recognizes that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) are electric cars and that they have zero-tailpipe emissions. However, due to the following reasons, we continue to focus our efforts on accelerating the adoption of battery electric vehicles: • Hydrogen/FCEVs are inherently inefficient. When we consider well-to-wheel efficiency, these vehicles are only around 22% efficient. We don't have energy to waste. • The hydrogen ground transportation ecosystem is costly. A fueling station can cost $2M. Level 2 and DC Fast Chargers cost around $10k to $150k,