Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) power their wheels using electric motors rather than internal combustion engines. While BEVs rely on batteries, FCEVs produce their own electricity onboard.
BEV sales have demonstrated steady growth in the United States. However, FCEV sales are reported to remain weak, as per InsideEVs.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car sales saw an 82% decrease
The California Fuel Cell Partnership’s data reveals that only 153 FCEVs were sold in the US in Q3 2022, an 82% decrease from the previous year. It is worth noting that this data was provided by Baum and Associates, stating, “sales data is based on car sales sold by a dealer to a retail or fleet customer.”
These sales reports only intensify skepticism about FCEVs, especially when compared to BEVs sales. According to the report, these concerns include “price of the car, overall energy efficiency, and lack of refueling infrastructure to name the three major ones, plus the limited number of models and limited geographical availability – basically only California.”
Interestingly, only the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai NEXO were actively sold, based on the overall results and the numbers provided by Toyota and Hyundai.
Sales in Q3 2022 (Mirai and NEXO sales as reported by the automakers):
- Toyota Mirai – 79 (down 88%)
- Hyundai NEXO – 74 (down 50%)
- other models – 0 (down 100%)
- Total: 153 (down 82%)
Notably, approximately 2,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars have been sold in the US this year, which is 28% fewer than in the same period last year.
Sales YTD (Mirai and NEXO sales as reported by the automakers):
- Toyota Mirai – 1,437 (down 37%)
- Hyundai NEXO – 345 (up 22%)
- other models – 205 (up 6%)
- Total: 1,987 (down 28%)
Toyota Mirai dominates the market this year, with over 10,000 units delivered cumulatively since Q4 2015. Around 14,000 FCEVs have been produced by the Japanese automaker, giving it a market share of roughly 75%.
Refueling infrastructure
In California, there were 57 open retail hydrogen stations as of October 3 this year, an increase of 7 stations from the start of the year. Furthermore, nine new stations are being built. The report estimates that the number of cars per station is 250 and might be significantly less if some old FCEVs have retired.
Hydrogen is one of the most widely used renewable energy sources today, generating electricity without creating greenhouse gases. It is also one of the most abundant elements, making FCEV a suitable alternative to BEV. However, it appears that more push for FCEVs is necessary to increase its sales and strengthen its presence in the market.
