Power Electric Cars F uel cells are like batteries with fuel tanks. Unlike batteries, they produce electricity as long as they have fuel, and they never need recharging.
Fuel cells are also more efficient and less polluting than internal combustion engines.
Researcher Shabbir Ahmed readies an experiment to test the performance of Argonne's methanol reformer. A major problem in using fuel cells to power electric cars, however, is that they are fueled by hydrogen, a very light gas that is hard to store. Currently available hydrogen-storage technologies are so heavy and bulky that they would limit the driving range of any car that used them. Argonne researchers have tackled this problem by inventing a new device that could bring electric cars a step closer to practical use for daily driving. Because it is more compact than other reformers, it could enable fuel cells to power an electric car by reforming methanol from the fuel tank and feeding the hydrogen into a fuel cell.