According to a report, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler predicts that the cost of EV batteries and fuel cell cars will drop significantly in the next few years, especially for the latter, paving the way for closer parity against conventional offerings.
The company’s e-drive and future mobility boss Herbert Kohler said that while a few years ago, the price was at about 1,500 euros per kilowatt hour for a lithium ion battery, the price should drop to around 400 euros in the midterm, according to the ANE report.
He added that the expectations are for an even bigger price decrease for fuel cells, with the belief that EVs could be more expensive than fuel cells in less than five years. By 2015, the company beleives that a fuel cell car won’t cost more than a four-cylinder diesel hybrid meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard, according to Kohler.
The company has already been doing running trials on a fleet of its B-class fuel cells cars, with the second-generation of the form based on its new MFA front-wheel drive architecture expected – along with its A-class sibling – around 2013 or 2014, and is aggressively pursuing a target of getting 1,000 fuel cell mules on the road in the next three years.
Kohler added he expected that there would be a network of 1,000 fuel-stations in Germany alone by mid-term, effectively having a fueling-station for a fuel cell vehicle within an every 30 km distance.
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It all depends if the price of the batteries will drop significantly within the next few years to see if this technology is sustainable. Everything is back to dollars and cents. Everyone knows that batteries have a lifespan. They don’t last forever. The question is how much money will it take to change a new set of batteries after it dies?Lithium Ion Batteries have a lifespan of about 300-500 charge cycles only. And, what will be the amount of Electricity that is being used for a full charge?(Hope Tenaga won’t increase their tarriff rates again!!)
that engineering breakthrough since many expert said we need at least 30-40yrs….actually fuel cell car is electric car also…the diff only that fuel cell car generate electricity by hydrogen-oksigen chemical reaction…that mean they hav way to increase efficiency since chemical reaction release heat(energy loss) to produce energy and oso low hydrogen storage efficiency
will prius be cheaper in few years time??
Is this referring to hybrid or full EV car? If we can make the EV to fully recharge in less than a minute (the time taken to refuel our car) then it will be a great leap forward. It does not make sense waiting a few hours for the batter to recharge when we can just refuel the car within a minute.
fuel cell car is electric car power by hydrogen through hydrogen-oxygen reaction
IF one thinks about it a fuel cell car is a much better alternative. There’s no battery to charge, just fuel up and go. Fuel cell hydrogen stations look like ordinary petrol stations, no need to wait a couple of hours for a charge, and then run out of battery after 100 -200 kms. Honda clarity FCX is an example of the way to go. Japan, Germany, United states are already on board. My prediction is South Korea will be next and there are rumours that the infrastructure is being set up by Hyundai Oilbank and SK oil. My hope is that by next year Hyundai will have some commercial models replacing council vehicles and public transport vehicles, and in 5 years time i would expect at least one mainstream model to feature this technology.