From the perspective of the application of commercialization of various new energy vehicles, the technology of hybrid vehicles has matured and developed rapidly. It is the mainstream of the development of new energy vehicles in China in recent years. The early start of pure electric vehicles limited to vehicle battery problems has not been well resolved, and it will take time to enter the market. In contrast, the market prospects for fuel cell vehicles are promising, but the overall level of technology still needs to be improved and perfected. In particular, the backward infrastructure is the bottleneck of development.

Focus on the automotive fuel cell market Recently, researchers from the University of Kyushu, Japan, published a paper in the online edition of Applied Chemistry, Germany, that they have developed a new type of fuel cell using nickel and antimony as catalysts, which will help reduce fuel cells. The cost, thereby promoting the popularization of fuel cell vehicles. Fuel cells convert the chemical energy stored in fuel and oxidant directly into electrical energy at isothermal temperatures. Because it uses mainly hydrogen, alcohols and other fuels, it has the characteristics of low environmental load and low noise, so it is not only suitable for power generation in power plants, but also can be used as a power source for transportation tools such as electric vehicles, electric vehicles, and electric bicycles. power supply.

Different from foreign countries, at present, China's fuel cell industry focuses on R&D rather than industrialization, and more than 60 institutions in China are engaged in the research of fuel cells. At the same time, China's fuel cell market focuses on the field of transportation tools. Correspondingly, the largest area for fuel cell input in China is the proton exchange membrane (PEM), which is suitable for the automotive fuel cell market. At the same time, a significant proportion of the other two major bottlenecks in fuel cells, fuel storage and fuel infrastructure, are also invested.

Up to now, China's fuel cell vehicles have been demonstrated through major platforms such as the Olympic Games and the Expo. However, at the same time, there are still gaps between China's key technologies in fuel cells and the international advanced level. For example, there are data that China's fuel cell bus as a demonstration bus operation has not exceeded 3,000 hours of operating life, while the system life of fuel cell engines for urban buses developed by UTC in the United States has exceeded 5000 hours under road test conditions.

It takes time for commercial production. At present, China has established new energy vehicles as a strategic emerging industry, but the orientation of hydrogen energy in the new energy industry and fuel cell vehicles in the new energy automotive industry remains ambiguous. Moreover, due to the initial stage of application of the fuel cell industry, there is a great technical uncertainty, the company has little information on the characteristics of the industry, user characteristics and other aspects, the industry development prospects there is a certain degree of uncertainty.

It is understood that hydrogen can be taken from the air and stored conveniently, but because the density of hydrogen is very small, only 1/8 of that of natural gas, the storage volume is large and it cannot be stored and used directly. Although methanol, ethanol, natural gas, and low-sulfur gasoline are used for the reformulation of hydrogen production, raw materials such as methanol and ethanol also face the problem of insufficient supply systems. Even if the cost of fuel cells can keep up with commercial demand, the problem of insufficient number of hydrogen charging stations is difficult to solve in a short time. The backwardness of hydrogen fuel supply infrastructure is the bottleneck of the commercialization of fuel cells.

At the same time, how to miniaturize a fuel cell to make it behave like an existing rechargeable battery and provide the same performance as a power source for automobiles and portable electronic products is also a challenge for the commercialization of fuel cells in the application market. In addition, the ordinary fuel-powered electric cars are worth tens of thousands of yuan more than the one-time investment of ordinary fuel cars, which makes it difficult to market their products and indirectly affects the industrialization of fuel cells.

As an emerging industry, fuel cells are currently driven mainly by government incentive policies and environmental protection regulations. Some analysts believe that fuel cell research and development is accelerating under the drive of the market and policies. It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, the fuel cell will have a breakthrough in technology, and the industry will usher in rapid growth. Bottlenecks such as technology and infrastructure have completely broken through, and the commercialization of fuel cells needs to be completed by the end of the 20th century.