Berlin (AP) – Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) has demanded more speed in the dissemination of drives with so-called hydrogen fuel cells.
“We see many individual studies and projects, but now we have to go into more effectiveness because now we have to win the curiosity of the citizens,” said Scheuer on Thursday at the federal meeting of the motor vehicle industry in Berlin. The minister warned against relying solely on electric motors for alternative drives. “I think the restriction to just electric mobility falls way too short.”
It would need all mobility options and drive technologies, including scraping internal combustion engines. “People should decide for themselves what they need for their mobility. And that is not imposed by the policy. “The same opinion had previously expressed the President of the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry, Jürgen Karpinski. “At the moment, the mood against the car is extremely bad and we have a small minority here, who are making a lot of attention.”
Fuel cells make water vapor and electricity from hydrogen and oxygen. Refueling time and range of the cars correspond to those of gasoline engines. However, the technology is considered expensive and the gas station infrastructure is poorly developed. Especially for trucks in long-distance transport, the manufacturers see the fuel cell as a possible successor of the diesel, because weight and charging times of batteries of large trucks are enormous.
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