An Analysis of Trends in Vehicle Technologies Based on Alternative Fuels: Battery Electric Vehicles and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

The burgeoning energy and environmental crisis calls for a pressing need to develop alternative fuels which can replace fossil fuels in the near future. This paper enlists and reviews various vehicle programs based on alternative fuels, focusing mainly on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Firstly we state prominent vehicle programs undertaken by different manufacturers worldwide in BEVs and FCEVs. This is followed by a comparison of vehicle specifications and features highlighting the evident improvements in their utility that have followed with time. A comprehensive analysis of the observed technological trends in the last two decades has been conducted by us. We discuss the patterns of development in the pivotal areas of BEV technology i.e. the battery and the motor in detail. The different types of fuel cell technologies available have been compared and their suitability for use in automobiles (both in terms of technology and marketability) has been analyzed. Based on advances in BEV and FCEV technologies, the two have been evaluated and compared for future applications.

We predict that battery propulsion technology will suffice the energy requirement for vehicles along with gasoline/diesel powered internal combustion engines (ICE) in the immediate future. Finally, we conclude that hydrogen fuel cell technology is the most promising candidate which has the potential to serve as the long time solution for all energy needs.