The great markets of the world are not satisfied with electricity alone and are looking for other variants to continue imposing themselves on the technology of the entire globe.
In this case, Great Wall, China’s largest SUV maker, announced that they would launch their first hydrogen fuel cell SUV this year. A bet that they have been developing for several years because they intend to place themselves in the top 3 of hydrogen vehicle manufacturers worldwide in three years.
The world’s largest auto market wants to go beyond the electrical transition. In autumn 2020, China communicated its new public policies to support hydrogen vehicles and the necessary infrastructure.
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In the past, specific help had been offered in the purchase of these vehicles, but for a few months China has also required that local administrations and companies develop the necessary infrastructure. A step forward in terms of maturity that has led to brands such as Geely or Great Wall announcing their support for this technology.
Hydrogen and electric, at same level
Wei Jianjun, founder of Great Wall, explains that over the past five years his company has invested about 260 million euros (2 billion yuan) in hydrogen-related technologies and they plan to invest another 390 million euros over the next three years.
“The development of the industry related to hydrogen will advance as fast as that of electric vehicles,” assures the Chinese manufacturer.
Hydrogen has the advantage that it is a clean technology and is not subject to the high costs of recycling lithium or the batteries themselves. However, producing it and bringing it to the vehicle is very expensive and in practice, they end up generating derivative emissions.
If the charging infrastructure is already relevant in electric cars to facilitate their adoption, with hydrogen cars the infrastructure to bring hydrogen closer to it has an even more necessary role.
China wants one million fuel cell cars to hit its streets over the next decade. The current hydrogen car market is led by Japanese brands such as Toyota with its Mirai, but China seeks to follow Japan’s path in this sector.
Written by I Jhonattan González
