GM kills hydrogen fuel cell development for automotive use

[OVERKILL]

And I'm sure they won't be the last as I suspect we will see a winding down of the pursuit of hydrogen for automotive applications, per my previous postings on the subject, it has lost to BEV.

Per the article, GM's HYDROTEC brand, which focused on fuel cell motivation for consumer applications, will be ceasing operation. Instead, GM will concentrate on BEV development.

https://news.gm.com/home.detail.htm...eneration-hydrogen-fuel-cell-development.html

 

[nthach]

Consumers have spoken. FCEVs and H2 ICEs IMO, won’t go beyond the domain of public transit or trucking(if that).

Toyota needs to drop H2 as well. The Mirai is a loss leader, a hydrogen ICE will need the same aftertreatment as a current diesel(SCR) - while it is “zero-emission” as far as CO2/HC/CO/PM goes, NOx is the biggest emission.

 

[alarmguy]

Yeah, the key is for automotive use. Industry will still use it. I can agree, even BEV production has been cut back drastically worldwide except China. I can see no reason at this point in time for the US. It all depends one day if automobiles will have electric motors or not. Right now in the USA less than 2% do. Im not sure how we would have the power to replace gasoline and I suspect depending on the political climate getting rid of gasoline is no longer the "in thing"

We have to agree demand for EVs has been weak and about to really end up in the toilet as far as initial expectations. Product lines have been slashed. Even GM new to come out Bolt, production plans now but in half. One shift instead of two.

H2 is dead for automobiles all around the world, except again? China. It might make more sense there, since I can imagine outside of cities less infrastructure to support EVs. I have no clue... except they are now the only ones in the world who still pursue it and actually seem to be hitting their goals?
https://www.h2-tech.com/articles/20...to-the-strategies-driving-china-s-h2-success/

But yeah, H2 is not going to happen here for the consumer anytime soon for sure. I did think the way the world was talking about banning gasoline cars years back maybe there would be a chance but that isnt happening either, gasoline is not close to dead and now never will be.

 

[OVERKILL]

Yeah, the key is for automotive use. Industry will still use it. I can agree, even BEV production has been cut back drastically worldwide except China. I can see no reason at this point in time for the US. It all depends one day if automobiles will have electric motors or not. Right now in the USA less than 2% do. Im not sure how we would have the power to replace gasoline and I suspect depending on the political climate getting rid of gasoline is no longer the "in thing"

H2 is dead for automobiles except again? China. It might make more sense there, since I can imagine outside of cities less infrastructure to support EVs. I have no clue... except they are now the only ones in the world who still pursue it and actually seem to be hitting their goals.
https://www.h2-tech.com/articles/20...to-the-strategies-driving-china-s-h2-success/

True, China is still pursuing it, however, from that article:

In fact, the Chinese government has outlined a medium- and long-term development plan for H2 (spanning 2021─2035). By the end of 2025, the country aims to have 50,000 H2 fuel cell vehicles on the road, supported by an expanding network of H2 refueling stations. China is very likely to achieve this target, with current growth signifying that from 2015─2023, the cumulative production and sales of fuel cell vehicles in China have reached 18,494 and 18,096 vehicles, respectively, achieving 36.19% of the targeted 50,000 vehicles by the end of 2025.

So, their target is 50,000 H2 vehicles, in TOTAL, by the end of 2025. Now we compare that to their BEV sales:
https://cnevpost.com/2025/10/13/china-nev-retail-sept-2025/

China's BEV retail sales reached a record 826,000 units in September, accounting for 63.7 percent of total NEV retail sales of 1.296 million units.

Even in China, BEV appears to be winning.

 

[Danno]

Hydrogen was never, nor will be a fuel that can significantly replace diesel, or gasoline ICE/Hybrid any time in the automotive product planning horizon. Extremely hard to justify when it costs more energy to produce than what it returns, never-mind the storage, transport and on vehicle energy density challenges.

 

[nthach]

But yeah, H2 is not going to happen here for the consumer anytime soon for sure. I did think the way the world was talking about banning gasoline cars years back maybe there would be a chance but that isnt happening either, gasoline is not close to dead and now never will be.

hydrogen is also expensive. Last time I checked, a kilogram is $30+, it might be closer to $40 now. A Mirai holds 5-7kg, while a 40’ transit bus with Ballard fuel cells can have up to 25kg of H2 in tanks on the roof. It costs $25-35 to fuel up a hybrid, to charge an BEV outside of a public CCS charger/Tesla Supercharger is much less than that. People have taken Toyota to court for depreciation on the Mirai - they are cheap as used cars, oddly enough a Prius despite many of them getting beat up as Ubers or Lyfts holds its value much better. Once you use up that $15K in subsidized hydrogen, it costs as much or more as fueling up a full-size SUV. Taxpayers are subsidizing that bus’ fuel for a public benefit, Toyota is subsidizing it to move units and keep CARB happy.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Meanwhile tech leaders like BMW continue on. They must be completely clueless.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62068902/2028-bmw-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-coming/

 

[Pablo]

I think they knew this going into it frankly.................but if you have the funds............

 

[alarmguy]

No one knows what the future holds. Gasoline will rule, its cheap, its universal, easy to refuel anyplace in the country and takes minutes.
EVs will have to match that if they are ever going to become on par with gasoline. I agree H2 is out here, there is no drive for the consumer to own one.
The political climate has done a 180 on the subject of a EV future. No one cares at the present time, they are too expensive, too small and inconvenient for others. It still is a nitch market @ less than 2%. I do think moving forward and with better pricing, it might be a staple one day as a secondary car for many that can charge one at home unless technology can have them charge as fast as gasoline. On the road it will cost as much if not more to recharge, more so once it is taxed fairly in the way gasoline is taxed. The gas is cheap, the taxes on it are not.

 

[JeffKeryk]

There used to be 2 H2 filling stations near me. I think there is still one. I see a car there one in a blue moon.
I never understood the viability of an auto product you couldn't reasonably easily get fuel for.

 

[dogememe]

Good. Hydrogen is dumb for 99.9% of transportation applications.

 

[alarmguy]

Good. Hydrogen is dumb for 99.9% of transportation applications.

Consumer I agree now vs my past statements.
But you mention "transportation applications" That might be too wide a brush at the current time.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/walmart-...pdd31WDk5BkCym8JPpooN-HQnnvs7L-OaZmJVe6bpnZh8

Who knows the future, you could invest that way if you knew... too late for me. I wont be on the planet in 25 or so years to find out.
Right now the whole green movement is upside down. Actually its evaporated.

 

[nthach]

There used to be 2 H2 filling stations near me. I think there is still one. I see a car there one in a blue moon.
I never understood the viability of an auto product you couldn't reasonably easily get fuel for.

AC Transit shut down their public-facing H2 fueling station in Emeryville recently. It used to be one of the few that worked in the East Bay. There’s still one in Oakland across from Lake Merritt on Grand and there’s another one in Concord/Pleasant Hill now.

There is “renewable” diesel fuel made from slaughterhouse waste and FOG from restaurants. It’s no longer the granola crew’s biodiesel, it’s a 1:1 drop-in but there’s differences in lubricity(not like ULSD is friendly to injection pumps). If they can figure out “renewable” gasoline…

 

[Danno]

Meanwhile tech leaders like BMW continue on. They must be completely clueless.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62068902/2028-bmw-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-coming/

I ran a large fleet as a national fleet manager, +1000 trucks, cube trucks to Class 8. Our CPG competitor was buying hybrid box trucks and putting them in service. My company was ROI driven, and the comment was if Competitor A has them in service and has the ROI why can't you?
Turns out I was at a fleet conference several years later, I asked the Competitor's fleet manager that question.
Answer was there was no financial ROI, aside that it was all marketing driven.

 

[OVERKILL]

Meanwhile tech leaders like BMW continue on. They must be completely clueless.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62068902/2028-bmw-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-coming/

I mean, they are betting on infrastructure for an industry that is actively contracting (Shell recently closed all their hydrogen fueling stations) and from which peers have failed to gain traction (Toyota) and are now abandoning (GM).

There are numerous problems with hydrogen for consumer transport, but the biggest is the lack of fueling infrastructure, which shows no sign of improving, and that's going to seriously hamper any deployment, no matter how good the product is.

It's an extremely challenging energy storage medium compared to its peers, and these issues are not easily remedied.

 

[michaelluscher]

I remember many years back, it seemed so full of promise
I suppose the market has spoken, I don't hear the best ownership experiences from Mirai and FCX Clarity owners

I remember when GM tried to distract us from the EV-1

In fairness, the "sled platform w/swappable body" concept was sound, it's how many architectures work these days
In reality, it was a range extender before that was a thing?
Swap the hydrogen fuel cell for a small gas engine and it was the Chevy Volt 10 years ahead of time

 

[E365]

Just think of how hard it’s been to install DC Fast chargers for EVs, and there’s electricity everywhere. Doing a nationwide hydrogen network from scratch would have been a bonkers idea.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

And I'm sure they won't be the last as I suspect we will see a winding down of the pursuit of hydrogen for automotive applications, per my previous postings on the subject, it has lost to BEV.

Per the article, GM's HYDROTEC brand, which focused on fuel cell motivation for consumer applications, will be ceasing operation. Instead, GM will concentrate on BEV development.

https://news.gm.com/home.detail.htm...eneration-hydrogen-fuel-cell-development.html

Yeah. Not a big surprise after the way most have approached the subject. Toyota has poured truck loads of money into R&D on the use of hydrogen in several applications. Since they or no one else has yet bragged or shared any recent discoveries on the use of H2 in vehicles after so many years studying it in any newer or any everyday applications, so it is no surprise the way that went for GMC.
H2 use in vehicles has been studied and even tried as far back as the 1930 in Europe. Especially in Germany where they actually constructed and test used a true H2 powered vehicle. They too gave up on the use of H2 that far back and so many years ago.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

No one knows what the future holds. Gasoline will rule, its cheap, its universal, easy to refuel anyplace in the country and takes minutes.
EVs will have to match that if they are ever going to become on par with gasoline. I agree H2 is out here, there is no drive for the consumer to own one.
The political climate has done a 180 on the subject of a EV future. No one cares at the present time, they are too expensive, too small and inconvenient for others. It still is a nitch market @ less than 2%. I do think moving forward and with better pricing, it might be a staple one day as a secondary car for many that can charge one at home unless technology can have them charge as fast as gasoline. On the road it will cost as much if not more to recharge, more so once it is taxed fairly in the way gasoline is taxed. The gas is cheap, the taxes on it are not.

I can not wait until they release the information that they have found a way that we can use simple water to run vehicles!
How secret ? dangerous or valuable would that info be!? YIKES.

 

[OVERKILL]

I can not wait until they release the information that they have found a way that we can use simple water to run vehicles!
How secret ? dangerous or valuable would that info be!? YIKES.

All of the "run on water" conspiracies revolve around producing and combusting hydrogen, typically via electrolysis, decomposing it, and then burning the hydrogen, making water again. This is a lossy process however, you need to have an actual energy source, which neither water or hydrogen are.