Despite over a decade of promises regarding affordable fuel cells, and billions of dollars being spent by government and industry, we are still another decade away from reaching the goal of $500 per kilowatt of electrical output. The problem is simple: without a breakthrough in science, the fuel cell requires noble metal catalysts such as platinum that are very expensive.

Vehicles designed for highway use require at least 50 kilowatts of energy to accelerate to 60 mph in less than 12 seconds. Even when we reach the goal, the fuel cell alone in these vehicles will cost $25,000 — hardly a mass-market price point.

The push to cost-reduce fuel cells is driven by two primary attributes: zero pollution (all water vapor) and high efficiency. Fuel cells convert chemical energy to electrical energy with 60% efficiency. This is almost twice that of a gasoline engine (32%) and higher than internal combustion engines designed to run on hydrogen (42%).