Wan Gang: There is a clear gap between China and the world in fuel cell technology

In the past 10 years, although China has been vigorously developing electric vehicles, it has not given up on fuel cell vehicle technology. However, there has been no significant progress in the key technologies of fuel cell vehicles in my country, especially in core technologies such as stack power density, catalyst efficiency, membrane electrode durability, and air compressors. On June 28, Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, expressed the above view at the Hydrogen Energy Industry Innovation and Development Forum.

『Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wan Gang』

Fuel cell core technology lags behind

Wan Gang introduced that China has made some arrangements in key materials such as fuel cell catalysts, proton exchange membranes, and carbon paper, but they are still in the laboratory stage, and the consistency and reliability of the products cannot be guaranteed. There are also some samples of key components such as air compressors and hydrogen reflux pumps, but there is no stable production capacity, the product supply is insufficient and the price is very high. The hydrogen storage capacity weight ratio of hydrogen storage materials must reach 5%-7% to be of practical value. At present, the hydrogen storage density of 35MPa carbon fiber wrapped metal liner gas cylinders (III) is only 3.9%.

● Stack power density: Domestic products are generally around 2kW/L; according to reports, the international advanced level has reached around 3kW/L;
● Catalyst efficiency: The domestic platinum consumption per kilowatt is about 0.3 grams; according to reports, the international advanced level has reached less than 0.06 grams;
● Durability of membrane electrode: The actual lifespan under dynamic conditions in China is about 3,000 hours; it is reported that it has reached 9,000 hours abroad;
● Air compressor: Currently, domestic fuel cell products basically use low-pressure blowers, while foreign products mainly use air compressors, and the import price is extremely high.

At the same time, fuel cell vehicles have not yet formed a stable parts supply system, with a weak supply chain and insufficient engineering capabilities, resulting in low process quality of parts, poor product consistency, insufficient reliability and durability, and failure to meet the requirements of large-scale production.

In addition, there are relatively few car companies in the field of fuel cell passenger cars. Wan Gang introduced that, except for SAIC, other mainstream car companies have not yet included fuel cell vehicles as their main products in their development plans. There is a clear gap between Chinese car companies and international car companies such as Toyota, Honda, GM, and Mercedes-Benz, and domestic vehicle companies have not yet played a leading role.

At present, the demonstration operation of domestic fuel cell vehicles is still mainly in the commercial vehicle field, including Yutong Bus, Youngman Bus, Foton Motor, Dongfeng Motor, SAIC Volkswagen and other companies. The total number of vehicles in operation does not exceed 1,000, of which special-purpose vehicles account for 78% and buses account for 22%.

Toyota Mirai

The high cost of hydrogen energy utilization

In terms of hydrogen energy utilization, Wan Gang introduced that my country's hydrogen production, supply and refueling systems are backward, resulting in a sharp increase in the cost of hydrogen fuel. At the same time, my country's low-cost hydrogen sources are very extensive, but limited by the imperfect scale hydrogen supply system, the price of hydrogen exceeds the cost of fuel, and a sustainable business model has not yet been formed.

Although the current cost of hydrogen energy utilization is high, Ling Wen, general manager of the State Energy Investment Group, believes that in the long run, my country has three natural advantages in developing hydrogen energy:
First, China's resource reserves are short of oil and gas but relatively rich in coal, and coal-to-hydrogen production is the cheapest among all hydrogen production fields;
Second, a large amount of renewable energy is abandoned in my country every year. According to conservative statistics, in 2017, my country's abandoned electricity was 100 billion kWh. If this abandoned electricity is used to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, if 5 kWh of electricity can be exchanged for 1 cubic meter of hydrogen, about 20 billion cubic meters of hydrogen can be produced;
Third, the amount of hydrogen produced as a by-product of the chemical industry is very large.

Ling Wen believes that China is a huge market suitable for the development of hydrogen energy, and there is a lot of room for imagination in applying hydrogen to areas such as automotive power and distributed power generation.

『Hyundai FE Fuel Cell Concept』

Inadequate infrastructure

There are currently 12 hydrogen refueling infrastructures in operation in my country, and nearly 10 are under construction. Gan Yong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that although my country's hydrogen refueling stations are currently small in scale, some problems have been exposed. my country's hydrogen refueling stations are still unable to achieve 3-5 minutes of rapid hydrogenation in accordance with international standards, and cannot meet commercial operation standards. In addition, the selection of key equipment such as compressors and hydrogenation machines pursues low prices and cannot meet the requirements of long-term continuous and reliable operation. In addition, there is a lack of standards for the planning, design and construction, acceptance, and selection of key equipment for hydrogen refueling stations.

Fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles are complementary

my country began promoting new energy vehicles in 2009. By the end of 2017, China had promoted more than 1.8 million new energy vehicles, becoming the country with the largest number of new energy vehicles in the world. Fuel cell vehicles are also part of new energy vehicles, but they are currently only in the demonstration operation stage, with a cumulative number of no more than 1,000 vehicles in operation. It can be seen that electric vehicles have become the mainstream of new energy vehicle promotion in my country.

However, why is it important to reiterate the significance of developing fuel cell vehicles when electric vehicles have become the mainstream technology route? Wan Gang believes that based on the experience of promoting new energy vehicles in recent years, the development of electric vehicles has shortcomings such as long charging time and short driving range, which are exactly what fuel cell vehicles can make up for. Fuel cell vehicles are suitable for heavy-duty and long-distance transportation. In the long run, fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles will coexist and complement each other.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.