In a move destined to created heated conversation in the EV community, “Fortescue and ATCO Australia have opened Western Australia’s first green hydrogen refuelling station at ATCO’s Clean Energy Innovation Hub in the Perth metropolitan area.” Apparently, hydrogen cars are not dead yet. The refuelling station will will mainly be used by Fortescue for its […]In a move destined to created heated conversation in the EV community, “Fortescue and ATCO Australia have opened Western Australia’s first green hydrogen refuelling station at ATCO’s Clean Energy Innovation Hub in the Perth metropolitan area.” Apparently, hydrogen cars are not dead yet.
The refuelling station will will mainly be used by Fortescue for its 12 hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirais. ATCO has 4 of the Toyotas and the Western Australia police department also has a fleet of hydrogen cars.
“The H2 Refueller uses green hydrogen produced onsite at ATCO’s facility in Jandakot from renewable electricity through electrolysis. In 2020, the H2 Refueller was awarded A$1 million from the Western Australian Government’s Renewable Hydrogen Fund.”
Fortescue Executive Chairman Dr Andrew Forrest AO said, “Green hydrogen is a practical, implementable solution that we all need to help combat global warming, and our mission at Fortescue is to make this renewable alternative to fossil fuels available at a global scale and at competitive cost. …
“Fortescue is committed to stepping beyond fossil fuels to achieve real zero operational emissions by 2030, we are proud to support the decarbonisation of WA’s transport sector by providing the choice to fill tanks with a zero-emissions fuel source,” Dr Forrest added.
To put it into perspective, Tesla alone makes 28,150 BEVs per week (and that number is increasing as Berlin and Austin ramp up). Toyota has made 21,500 Mirais in the past 8 years. The advantages of green hydrogen over BEVs — speed of refuelling and greater range — are rapidly being matched by BEV cars and are outweighed by the lack of infrastructure for hydrogen and the abundance of EV charging infrastructure.
Still, Twiggy has to make his point, and he has the money to create a showcase for green hydrogen. I wish him well with his endeavours with green hydrogen; I just don’t believe that hydrogen cars are a good fit.
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Source: Clean Technica