Hydrogen cars - In five years, batteries will be much better, says head of Swedish Volvo Hakan Samuelsson

After the head of VW concern Herbert Diess, battery electric vehicles have another strong supporter. It is the head of Swedish Volvo Håkan Samuelsson, who in a telephone interview with German journalists warned against the enthusiasm of hydrogen propulsion.

"The overall efficiency of the battery system is significantly greater than that of a hydrogen fuel cell car," Samuelsson said. The head of Volvo is even convinced that supporters of hydrogen cars will soon run out of arguments, as the German magazine Automobilwoche writes. "At present, the only advantage of the hydrogen drive is its greater range. But in five years, the batteries will be much better and we will be able to offer cars that will run further on a single charge," he said. ž

Hydrogen cars, however, also need to admit a more aggressive refueling of fuel cells, which significantly outperforms even the fastest acceleration. Refueling the Hyundai Nexo takes five minutes, and the car then drives 600 kilometers. Conversely, the electric Porsche Taycan will recharge 100-kilometer energy at the super-fast IONITY station in the same period.

Samuelsson himself admits that, as a small manufacturer, Volvo had to decide to develop one technology and stick to it. "We had to set priorities and these are battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids for us. Hydrogen technology is too complicated and expensive," he added.

According to Chief Volvo, the automotive industry should focus on one technology alone. "It would not be good for customers to offer them two very different technical solutions for sustainable mobility." Buyers might be unnecessarily confused and delay their decision to buy a new car....

source:zpravy.aktualne...