Performance Analysis and Economic Feasibility of Fuel Cell Vehicles: A Perspective Review

Automotive industries have been a significant contributor to global warming over the last 30 years. Due to the excessive increase in environmental degradation, research has been conducted extensively in various fields to explore sustainable alternatives to IC engines. Therefore, heavy emphasis is being laid on Battery-run Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). BEVs are facing their own set of challenges when it comes to production, recharge time, battery capacity and net carbon footprint, among other issues. However, FCEVs offer certain new opportunities for the automobile sector to foray into a sustainable space. This study aims to review the performance of fuel cell vehicles against the parameters of economic feasibility, technological feasibility, energy efficiency. Recent developments in fuel cell research have been discussed. The feasibility of these developments corresponding to FCEV applications has been reviewed in view of the challenges to the widespread adoption of FCEVs in the automotive industry. Furthermore, the study attempts to establish FCEVs as a competent alternative to ICEVs, BEVs and PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) in regard to vehicle performance by comparing sample vehicles from the aforementioned categories against parameters such as Torque, Range, Ride comfort, costs and vehicular emissions. The in-depth review also determines the potential of FCEVs as a mainstream sustainable alternative and identifies the challenges and opportunities for the development of this technology for implementation in the near foreseeable future.