The EU has been urged to ramp up investments in hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs).
On 9 October, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Hydrogen Europe and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) signed a joint statement, calling for the next European Commission and newly elected MEPs to provide the right framework to support the roll-out of hydrogen infrastructure across the entire EU.
Actions to enable this would include reversing the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive to incorporate mandatory targets for hydrogen, along with the need for a strategic plan for the plan-European deployment of infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles to be put in place. Incentive schemes for renewable and low-carbon hydrogen mobility were also considered a must for hydrogen technology to become more affordable.
ACEA Director General, Eric-Mark Huitema, said: “Along with other alternatively-powered vehicles, fuel cell vehicles hold a strong potential to help make the transition to zero-emission mobility. But their ability to reach this potential depends on a network of hydrogen refuelling stations being built up right across Europe. Today, there are just 125 hydrogen stations in the EU, so there is much work to be done in the coming years.”
