[April theme report] What is the future of vehicles?

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[April theme report] What is the future of vehicles?
by Wooyeong Kim \| 28-04-2023 18:46 0
So far, the exhaust emission from vehicles has contaminated the air in our living environment. Those exhaust gas including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide is the main cause for the deterioration of the quality of the atmosphere. FCEV stands for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, and as its name implies, this car simply gets power from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the fuel cell. This signifies that the residue that becomes an emission substance is only water. For this reason, the FCEV is receiving momentous attention from the world. But I know you might have seen electric cars on the highway sometimes. Both of them have common aspects that they use electric energy using motors. However, they are different In South Korea, we can rarely find the FCEV on the street. According to the statistics of the use of FCEVs, there are only about 25,000 FCEVs registered in Korea. This number is quite small considering the overall number of car registration. There are a few reasons for this lack of registration for them. First, most public misunderstands the safety of FCEVs’ hydrogen tanks taken place inside corresponding to hydrogen bombs. In fact, hydrogen tanks are made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics that are 10 times stronger than iron to resist high pressures, and the inner devices to mitigate the impact from outside and flames as well. The other reason is the price. The FCEV is more expensive than the other vehicles such as electric vehicles, it is because the key components such as fuel cell stacks are expensive for the FCEV. Also, a small number of fuel charging stations are an critical cause of lack of popularization. Currently, more than 100 charging stations are deployed in Korea, but this is a very small number as well as the large regional variations which imply that national efforts are essential. Korea's only Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, ‘Nexo’ from Hyundai, appeared six years ago. Hyundai also announced the "Hydrogen Vision 2040," which includes a vision to lower the price of FCEVs to the level of general electric vehicles, citing high prices that are difficult for customers to afford. Despite the new eco-friendly technology, it is desirable for us not to use personal automobiles, but to use transportation such as buses or subways, or to use bicycles. Even if it can be seen as just a tiny thing to ameliorate the current risky situation, we need to keep contributing to the environment, not giving up the will. All you have to know is, we have far to go to make the clear and fresh Earth!

Dormant user Wooyeong Kim

3 Comments

Yewon Mentor says :
Hello again Wooyeong! This is your mentor Yewon.

Before I start, I apologize for the late comment.

You have written a report about the future of vehicles, mainly on FCEV.
I didn't know that Hyundai had made 'Nexo', and it was the only FCEV in Korea!
I hope more technologies related to FCEV would be developed and applied in our daily lives!

Thank you for your meaningful report! Great job!
Posted 20-08-2023 12:32

James Mentor says :
Hello again Wooyeong! This is your mentor James.

And again, terribly sorry for the late comment!

Great job in explaining the overall trend of FCEVs in Korea! I really like the part where you've critically analyzed the key reasons why FCEVs are not yet fully commercialized in the transportation sector. Personally, I think the high prices of FCEVs and insufficient infrastructure of hydrogen fuel stations are the main reasons why people don't tend to purchase this zero emission vehicle. Nonetheless, active fuel cell R&D and financial investments for infrastructure would definitely solve the current problems.

Thanks for writing such a meaningful report! Let's keep up the good work.
Posted 26-05-2023 12:35