A Comparison of Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles for Clean Transportation

Burning fossil fuels for transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, air pollution, and health problems. Research estimates that cars alone emit more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year due to the internal combustion engines that use fossil fuels. In contrast to fossil fuel vehicles, electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions. Therefore, countries around the world are making efforts to use electric vehicles instead of fossil fuels. Two of the available alternatives to internal-combustion engines are battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. This work investigates the basic functionalities and current advancements of battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. A comprehensive comparison of the benefits and drawbacks of each technology is provided, along with future forecasts for transportation.