At the moment of automobile electrification transformation, it seems that only a few manufacturers such as Toyota and Hyundai are still committed to the study of hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles, but compared with Toyota, Hyundai still has made great efforts in the development of pure electric vehicles. For most car companies, hydrogen internal combustion engines are not optimistic due to low combustion efficiency, storage hazards and many other reasons. Recently, Honda CEO Toshiro Mibe said in an interview that Toyota should stop developing hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles and should focus more on pure electric vehicles.
Toyota hydrogen energy vehicles
Toshihiro Mibe said in an interview that Honda has also conducted long-term research on hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines, but finally found that the technology is not suitable for cars, so it is no longer regarded as a reference solution to solve carbon dioxide emissions. Honda has studied every possibility of hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles, but has encountered some rather difficult technical challenges in the development of hydrogen engines. So, about 10 years ago, Honda thought the technology wouldn't go mainstream. In his view, the best driving method for Weilai's mainstream cars is still electric drive, and only for some larger models, hydrogen fuel cells may be a good choice.
Toshihiro Mitsube, CEO of Honda
According to Mibuhiro, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will have a broader market than hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles in the future, and hydrogen fuel cell models are also one of the future development directions of Honda electric vehicles. However, Honda previously announced that Nio's hydrogen energy battery vehicles will be mainly used in large vehicles that need greater range to increase their endurance, while ordinary vehicles will continue to use pure electric drive.
Hydrogen energy vehicles are mainly divided into two types, one is to directly push hydrogen into the internal combustion engine for combustion, which is called hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles, and the other is to generate an electric push motor by reacting hydrogen or hydrogen-containing substances with oxygen in the air in the fuel cell, and the electric motor pushes the vehicle. This is called a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.