The leading Japanese automakers consider hydrogen as the car fuel of the future, and are betting big on hydrogen-powered vehicles, as they believe that electric cars are not practical enough to present a good alternative to conventional vehicles. But, they also know that the number of publicly available fueling stations in the countries that fuel-cell cars are sold in needs to be drastically increased before they can become mainstream. Building an extensive supporting infrastructure is conditioned by a strong demand for hydrogen vehicles, which will not occur before there are sufficient refueling stations in place, making for a classic chicken-and-egg situation that presents a major barrier for the success of fuel-cell cars.
Toyota, Nissan and Honda – Japan’s largest car manufacturers – have decided to tackle this issue together, since they know that it can only be resolved through a joint effort from the auto industry and the public sector, and that automakers need to help fund the construction of fueling stations, themselves. They recently agreed to partner up and support the expansion of Japan’s hydrogen infrastructure, by contributing a significant amount of money toward the installation of hydrogen stations over the next couple of years.
In a joint press release, the three automakers announced that they will spend a total of $48 million to support the expansion of Japan’s hydrogen infrastructure in a project that is expected to run at least until 2020.
“The three automobile manufacturers hope to both popularize FCVs and ensure that it will be easy to refuel them. Consequently, they have jointly recognized the need for automobile manufacturers to promote the development of hydrogen station infrastructure alongside the government and infrastructure companies, with the aim of working towards achieving the aims of the above-mentioned Road Map, the source of the government’s subsidy support. The three automobile manufacturers will give careful consideration to concrete initiatives, such as underwriting a portion of the expenses involved in the operation of hydrogen stations”, they said in the press release.
The companies will contribute about $90,000 for each station that is built by operators, but they haven’t said anything about how many stations will be installed through this program. The Japanese government supports the promotion of hydrogen vehicles, as well, providing incentives of over $25,000 for those who decide to buy a fuel-cell car. Toyota and Honda already offer a hydrogen-powered car, whereas Nissan has yet to do it, but it has announced that it plans to launch a fuel-cell vehicle in the next couple of years.
If American automakers decide to follow in the footsteps of their Japanese counterparts and spend some money to help deploy more fueling stations across the country, they will certainly accelerate the adoption of hydrogen-powered vehicles in the U.S.