Are EVs Better Than Hydrogen Cars?

Written By Teacher: Elizabeth Ward

My name is Elizabeth Ward. I am a former Early Childhood, Elementary, and English as a Foreign Language educator. I have taught third grade Science and Social Studies as well as Kindergarten in both urban and rural Oklahoma public schools. I taught online EFL to students of all ages in China for four years. I also have experience in curriculum development and content design for teachers in the physical and digital classroom. As a former teacher I have a passion for supporting teachers and making their jobs easier. I currently live in the greater Houston area with my husband and four dogs. 

Electric vehicles (EVs) have gained wider adoption than hydrogen cars due to factors like infrastructure availability, energy efficiency, and cost. However, hydrogen fuel cell technology still holds potential for certain applications, particularly in heavy transport. Exploring this comparison helps students understand the complexities of energy transitions and the trade-offs between different clean transportation technologies. Even young students can learn about green transportation! Check out this unit or this unit created by educators like you! 

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

In the early 2000s, hydrogen was hot. Vehicles using hydrogen-powered fuel cells rivaled electric vehicles with batteries (EVs) as the best way to clean up the car industry by replacing climate-polluting gasoline. But today, EVs are way ahead: the big car companies are rapidly electrifying their lineups, while only a few hydrogen cars are available.

A few key factors have led battery-powered cars to dominance, says Sergey Paltsev, a senior research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative and a deputy director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. One is cultural taste: undeniably, he says, the rise of Tesla in the 2010s propelled the popularity of EVs around the world.

The big factor, though, is cost. The two mainstream hydrogen cars on sale in the U.S. today, the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo, start at around $50,000 and $60,000, respectively. A growing number of EVs cost less, thanks to the falling price of lithium-ion batteries. (And though EVs are still generally pricier than gas cars, government incentives can help to cover the difference.) Research by Paltsev and his students has found that the lifetime cost of ownership for a fuel cell car has come down in recent years, but remains high largely because of the cost of hydrogen fuel. They found the total cost of ownership for hydrogen was around 40 percent higher than a comparable gasoline vehicle, and about 10 percent more than an EV.