Dismal sales undercut Toyota and Hyundai as they push hydrogen fuel cell cars.
Toyota and Hyundai have put their weight behind hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) in the push to reach net zero emissions, but dismal sales suggest customers remain extremely wary.
Such vehicles accounted for only 0.02% of global passenger vehicle sales last year, according to a report published by Bloomberg NEF, and making any long-term projections is difficult until they reach 0.1%, or about 80,000 vehicles.
On paper, hydrogen offers faster refueling and longer range, but the absence of refueling infrastructure and mass-market applications makes wider adoption a slim prospect in the near term. Most research suggests battery electric vehicles are the quickest, cheapest way to slash emissions from passenger cars.
BNEF said in the report:
We are not able to make a long-term outlook for passenger FCVs while sales are so low, show limited momentum, and are highly concentrated in a few markets and models.
The Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo accounted for most of the 15,391 passenger FCVs sold last year. Sales fell globally from the previous year — most noticeably in Japan, where they dropped to 844 from 2,440 in 2021. Most shipments went to South Korea, where the government provides generous vehicle-purchasing and hydrogen-fuel subsidies.
Toyota and Hyundai are both invested in hydrogen as the global automobile industry shifts away from fossil fuels. In a race last month in Shizuoka Prefecture, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda sat in the driver’s seat of the world’s first liquid-hydrogen race car to promote the so-called carbon-neutral fuel.
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Dismal sales undercut Toyota and Hyundai as they push hydrogen fuel-cell cars, June 9, 2023
