How do Hydrogen-Powered Cars Work? Using [Fuel Cells & IC Engines]

Another Alternative Vehicle Technology

We hear a lot about the development of electric cars, and rightly so. But there’s another alternative vehicle technology that’s less talked about. And it’s reliant on the most common chemical element in the universe. Hydrogen.

There are hydrogen cars on UK roads, and while you might be hard-pressed to spot one right now, manufacturers (Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai) have already produced hydrogen models.

How Hydrogen Car works with Fuel Cell:
The fuel cell is a device that takes chemical energy from hydrogen and turns it into electricity that can power an electric motor, just like a battery. First, hydrogen stored in a tank is mixed with air and pumped into the fuel cell.

Inside the cell, a chemical reaction extracts electrons from the hydrogen. The leftover hydrogen protons move across the cell and combine with oxygen from the air to produce water. Meanwhile, the electrons create electricity, which charges a small storage battery to power an electric drivetrain. The vehicles are called Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV).

How Hydrogen Car works with IC Engine:
A hydrogen internal combustion engine (HICEV) is a type of hydrogen vehicle using an internal combustion engine. Hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles are different from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Instead, the hydrogen internal combustion engine is a modified version of the traditional gasoline-powered internal combustion engine.
 
Credit to : The Engineers Post