The hydrogen refueling model has lost to the United States, and the giant has announced its permanen

Cao Yuan is from the Vice-Pilot Temple.

Smart Car Reference|**ai4auto

Energy giantsShell, the decision has just been announcedPermanent shutdownAll hydrogen refueling stations in California.

This is undoubtedly worse for the local hydrogen refueling network, which is already in chaos.

What the hell is going on?

On February 8, local time, Shell announced in an announcement that all of California's automobile hydrogen refueling stationsPermanently closed

And California altogether only55 seatsHydrogen refueling stations for cars, of which Shell operates7

Although the number is not the largest, it will undoubtedly deal a blow to the local hydrogen energy market.

And that's not all.

On the same day, there was news ** that Iwatani from Japan, one of the two major hydrogen refueling station operators in the United States, is suing NEL, a Norwegian company that provides core technology for its hydrogen refueling stations.

The lawsuit was filed on the grounds that when the two parties signed the contract for the sale of hydrogen refueling equipment, NEL had committed fraud such as false promises and misrepresentations.

As a result, Iwatani operated multiple hydrogen fueling stations in California experienced various problems such as faulty valves and equipment downtime, as well as excessive repair times.

As a result, these hydrogen refueling stations have either postponed their opening time many times, or have to close their doors for adjustment after a short opening, and some hydrogen refueling stations have only been open for 5 hours.

In addition, NEL also supplied hydrogen refueling station equipment for Shell.

According to the map of hydrogen refueling stations provided by the local hydrogen organization H2FCP (Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership), most of the current hydrogen refueling stations in California, especially in southern California, are not operating normally, either showing that they are closed, or have limited hydrogen capacity or operating hours.

Only the green sites were operating normally Before Shell shut down the stations, California's 55 stations were closed11 pcs, and that's not even if it's impossible to function.

What's more, California is still the United StatesUniqueToyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Clarity are largely responsible for sales in the U.S.

The closure of hydrogen refueling stations one by one is not good news for the local hydrogen vehicle market, especially for existing car owners.

As one of the new energy industries, hydrogen energy is not as popular as hybrid and pure electric vehicles, but it still has a certain presence in the market.

In particular, compared with pure electric vehicles, hydrogen energy has many advantages such as renewables and short energy replenishment time.

Take Toyota Mirai as an example, the official said that hydrogen refueling can be increased in 5 minutes850kmbattery life, which is much faster than most of today's ultra-fast charging technologies.

However, compared with the well-established power industry, the hydrogen energy industry as a whole is still in its infancy.

For example:Hydrogen productionGrey hydrogen, which currently accounts for the highest market share and has the lowest cost, burns fossil fuels or produces carbon emissions.

Cleaner and more environmentally friendly blue hydrogen (hydrogen production through industrial by-products) and green hydrogen (hydrogen production from renewable energy) are more costly, and will also be affected by by-products**, electricity prices, etc., and are in the exploration period of cost reduction.

After the hydrogen is manufactured,Storage and transportationThe link is not mature.

It has been able to realize the industrialization of gaseous and liquid storage and transportation methodsGaseous hydrogen storageThe investment cost is small, the energy consumption is low, but the scale is small, and it is only suitable for short-distance or small-scale transportation; Liquid hydrogen storageAlthough it is possible to liquefy hydrogen for large-scale and long-distance transportation, the upfront investment cost is high, and it is currently mainly used in the aviation field.

It can take into account long-distance large-scale transportation and low costHydrogen pipelinesIt is still in the laying stage, and the pipe network has yet to be developed.

And wait until after hydrogen is prepared, stored and transportedHydrogen refueling stationsThere are also problems, the core of which isHigh construction costs

Some institutions have calculated that without considering the cost of land, the construction cost of building a hydrogen refueling station of 35mpa 70mpa, which can **180kg of hydrogen per day and can store 250kg of hydrogen is 2 million US dollars, which is about the same14.39 million yuan, which is an order of magnitude more than the average charging station cost.

In addition, for consumers, there are also hydrogen energy vehicles that are high and expensive to charge hydrogen.

Taken together, it is no wonder that the reason given by Shell when it decided to close the hydrogen refueling station was "due to the complexity of hydrogen ** and other external market factors".

At present, the new energy market is mainly dominated by pure electric and hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen energy vehicles often account for less than 1%.

In the final analysis, choosing to deploy and invest in hydrogen energy now is making a bet or betting on a future business.

And in this big gamble, the United States may have to withdraw first.

I just don't know if such a change can make hydrogen energy the number one supporterToyotaBack.

No matter how much you don't go all in pure electric, before you grasp the future, you may have to lose the present.

Reference content: Guosheng** "Hydrogen Energy Industry Chain Combing: Hydrogen Production, Hydrogen Transportation, and Hydrogen Use - Water Electrolysis Series III".