Whether FUEL CELL is cheaper than gasoline?

Question

Whether FUEL CELL is cheaper than gasoline?

Answer 1

nope.  The cost of the fuel is 3 times that of gasoline, but its 2 1/2 times more efficient, net cost per mile is higher.

Answer 2

Fuel cells are temperamental and highly expensive. The catalyst necessary to generate electricity from hydrogen and oxygen is platinum, a very rare metal much more valuable than gold, and fuel cells require sheets of it. Fuel cell cars cost upwards of 500,000 to one million dollars a this point in time, hardly viable technology.

In terms of operating cost, fuel cells are also more expensive than gasoline.

The hydrogen is generated from electricity, which in the United States mostly comes from coal and fossil fuel burning power plants.

So following the primary source, energy is first lost at the powerstation (40-60% efficient), then in the electrolysis of hydrogen(70% efficient), then in transportation, compression, pumping(8-10% lost), and finally the cell itself is only about 36% efficient. This means that only 9-14% of the original energy is actually used by the hydrogen fuel cell.

A gasoline engine is able to use 20% of the energy from the fuel,  a fuel cell car only uses 9-14% of that energy mostly from the same fossil fuels as a gas car. Until more efficient methods can be invented, or the United States transitions to cleaner power generating methods, Hydrogen fuel cell cars are actually dirtier and consume more fuel (at the source) than regular gas engines, and needless to say are more expensive.

Answer 3

If it was cheaper we would use them.  Its also less reliable at this point.