It is not unusual for pioneering technology to fail in real-world conditions. However, it came at one of the worst moments for the hydrogen car industry: in 2019, California invested heavily in hydrogen refueling infrastructure, attracting global car manufacturers and the largest oil and gas companies to the state.
At the time, Toyota was pushing for an expansion of its refueling infrastructure to support the rollout of the Toyota Mirai, one of the first hydrogen fuel cell airy consumer vehicles to hit the market.
So Toyota partnered with both Iwatani and the oil company Shell to build more gas stations. Shell hired Nel as a station supplier, and shortly thereafter both Iwatani and Chevron began working with Nel. Representatives for Shell and Iwatani did not respond to requests for comment.
Lewis Fulton, director of the Energy Futures program at the University of California, Davis, says equipment failures in the passenger segment led to a “near system collapse” in California. In addition to the abandoned Iwatani stations, Shell in February completely closed seven California hydrogen fueling stations and canceled plans to build 48 stations in the state.
Chevron has commissioned Nel to create 16 stations, but has not provided an answer on the status of those stations. The extent to which Nel provided technology to these major players has not been previously reported.
Meanwhile, Toyota, which has since deprioritized the Mirai in the California market, is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by many drivers who have already purchased the hydrogen-powered vehicle. The lawsuit alleged that, despite Toyota’s promises, it has become increasingly tough to obtain hydrogen fuel for its cars, making the Mirai “unsafe, unreliable and inefficient.” Toyota did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Partnership for hydrogen fuel cellsThere are 55 hydrogen refueling stations in California, but many experience constant outages. None of the hydrogen refueling stations provided by Nel are currently operational. The only operating gas stations in Iwatani were built by Linde, a huge industrial gassing company.
Meanwhile, Fulton says California has focused on building infrastructure for ponderous vehicles such as trucks and buses, with the hope that the passenger market can recover with the facilitate of a growing freight market.
By focusing on the heavy-duty market, California could theoretically secure a larger supply of neat hydrogen, which would lower costs and enhance availability, says Fulton, who is also an advisor to Arches, a California hydrogen center that has earned $1.2 billion in contingent funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.