COLLAGE: Mahindra Hydrogen Powered 3 wheeler

Mahindra & Mahindra today became the 1st Indian Auto manufacturer to Venture into Hydrogen Fuels when It Launched the Hyalfa at the Indian Auto Expo.Hyalfa is a 3 wheeled commercial vehicle.

Commercial Vehicle Manufacturer Ashok leyland have previously experimented with Hythane (CNG+ Hydrogen), but this this the first Indian Vehicle to run with 100% Hydrogen Fuel. Lets get to know about Hydrogen as fuel to understand the Mahindra Auto\Tuk Tuk in detail.

What is Hydrogen???

It is the same element that appears at the Top of Periodic table
Most abundant in the Universe, But........ it is not naturally Occurring (always couples with some others)

Hydrogen as fuel for automobiles

It can be used as gas ( stored in tanks at 250 or 700 bar), in Liquid state & also as Fuel cells. Here i will talk about hydrogen gas as a fuel

Advantages

It is very very clean fuel , produces almost no Emission.
It is availability is in abundance.
It is renewable energy
Gives good fuel efficiency as it has produces lower heat loss .
The current reserve of Diesel, Petrol will last for 50 more years only.

Disadvantages

The current cost of producing hydrogen is Rs 240/kg , eventually will come down to ~Rs 60/70.
Storage of fuel is a problem as it needs bigger tanks( bigger than the CNG ones :-) ) [1 tank size of petrol = 20 tank size of H2]
Commercial Production of Hydrogen is not yet established.
Fuel Transportation and filling is not very feasible as on date.

Safety

Any fuel when handled Properly is Safe!!!!. so lets go to the next section.

Photos of a few H2 powered vehicles..... Hope your enjoyed reading about our future Fuel......