Stellantis has doubts about electric vehicles and is considering a hydrogen combustion engine

Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares openly doubts a future with purely battery-electric cars. The CEO believes the European Commission is trying to use “cruel methods” to encourage drivers to adopt electric vehicles. In his opinion, there are more options for zero-emission driving. Among other things, with a hydrogen combustion engine.

The Stellantis boss recently said this at the opening of the fuel cell factory in Lyon. The group includes numerous car brands (including Citroën, Peugeot, Opel, Jeep and Fiat). The cars of these brands mostly have combustion engines under the hood that get their energy from fossil fuels. Tavares wants to investigate whether these can be converted to hydrogen combustion engines at some point.

Alternatives to battery-electric cars

Striking, because the transition to BEVs seems unlikely to be stopped. For example, almost every car manufacturer (including Stellantis) is busy launching EV models. There are now around 430,000 fully electric cars in the Netherlands, compared to just over 600 hydrogen cars.

The aim is not to stop the development towards battery-electric cars, but to offer an alternative. “BEVs are still much more expensive than combustion engine cars and therefore unaffordable for most people,” says Stellantis CEO Tavares.

Three EV alternatives

According to him, there are a total of four options for emission-free driving. “Competition between fuel cells, BEVs, hydrogen combustion engines and even synthetic fuel combustion engines is beginning. In the coming years we will see what the best solution is for citizens.”

Stellantis is not the only car manufacturer that is also working on hydrogen cars. For example, Toyota has the Mirai in its range and Hyundai offers the Nexo. BMW is also experimenting with this form of drive on a small scale, but does not have a hydrogen car in production. However, these models all use a fuel cell and an electric motor and therefore drive like an electric car. The disadvantage is that quite voluminous hydrogen tanks have to be accommodated in the car in order to store the gas safely.

Hydrogen combustion engine

The method that Stellantis wants to investigate is different. They fill up with liquid hydrogen. In the same area, 75 percent more liquid hydrogen can be stored than in the gaseous form, which is refueled at 700 bar. You can also eliminate the potential danger of these high-pressure tanks by using liquid hydrogen. On the way to the cylinders, the liquid hydrogen is converted into gaseous form, after which the process proceeds largely as in conventional internal combustion engines.

This sounds great in theory, but in practice it proves difficult. The biggest disadvantage is that liquid hydrogen must be stored at -253 degrees Celsius. Above that it starts to boil and your fuel evaporates. But according to Toyota, which is also conducting tests with hydrogen combustion engines, there is another problem: the fuel pump. This pump is placed in the hydrogen tank, where the material of the pump deforms due to the extreme cold. Additionally, cars that run on liquid hydrogen are typically heavier than gas-powered variants. These are all problems that cause headaches for even the best minds. It is highly questionable whether Stellantis can find solutions to this.