Do hydrogen fuel cells wear out?

Fuel cells wear out very quickly and are difficult to regenerate. Hydrogen as a fuel is incredibly difficult to produce and distribute with acceptably low losses. Therefore, in the case of fuel cells, wear and tear doesn't affect performance too much and all the parts that matter can be replaced or repaired. For fans of Only Fools and Horses, a fuel cell system is like Trigger's broom.

At the end of its useful life, it's the same fuel cell, only a lot of parts have been changed. The reason hydrogen is inefficient is because energy must pass from one cable to another to power a car. This is sometimes referred to as vector energy transition. Fuel cells usually have a lifespan of five to ten years, depending on the application.

At that point, the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) wears out. But that doesn't mean you have to throw away the fuel cell. Unlike a fuel cell electric powertrain, more things are happening, but neither are they really the moving parts. I checked the source of the statistics, which revealed that they were comparing hydrogen produced from purely renewable electricity with electric vehicles powered by electricity from fossil fuels.

Maintaining the latest generation of fuel cells was expensive, significantly more than that of diesel, despite the smaller number of moving parts.

Hydrogen fuel

cells not only offer a convincing zero-emission alternative to conventionally powered vehicles, but they also have the added advantage of not generating waste. In a fuel cell powertrain, there is more complexity and some moving parts, such as pumps and a compressor. Ballard's ability to recover 95% of the fuel cell stack means that far fewer toxic chemicals and waste products end up in landfills.

In the comparison between battery-powered electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, maintenance is actually the biggest difference between technologies. The things to consider for fuel cell vehicles are operating hours, the lifespan of fuel cells and the cost of reconditioning batteries. Air compressors are a wear element and chemical filters to ensure that the air is clean for the fuel cell are manufactured in a small volume and are currently expensive. The hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which simply runs on pressurized hydrogen from a service station, produces zero carbon emissions from its exhaust gases.

In the case of fuel cells, the problems are the operating hours and lifespan of fuel cells, and whether your company should invest in an asset that works hard and has a long lifespan, with consistent operating expenses, where you can manage lifetime costs. Most importantly, however, in the case of some fuel cell technologies, the battery can also be reconditioned for a fraction of the cost of a new system. However, important parts that can be expensive do not move, and while there are fewer moving parts than a diesel engine, it is currently more expensive to maintain fuel cell vehicles.