Fuel Cells in Automobiles

A fuel cell automobile (FCA) or fuel cell electric automobile (FCEA) is an automobile which uses a fuel cell to power its on-board electric motor. Fuel cells in automobiles create electricity to provide power to an electric motor, generally using oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen.

A fuel cell automobile that is fuelled with hydrogen exhausts only water and heat, but no tailpipe pollutants. Therefore it is considered a zero-emissions vehicle as well. Depending on the method, however, producing the required hydrogen used in the automobile creates pollutants.

Fuel cells are used in various kinds of vehicles including forklifts, especially in indoor applications where their clean emissions are important to air quality, and in space applications. Fuel cell technology has attracted a lot of attention and research spending in recent years.

Honda FCX Clarity, Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell and Toyota Mirai are some examples of FCA.