How much hydrogen does a hydrogen car store?
Where the hydrogen lives in today’s fuel-cell cars
Hydrogen is stored in robust, high‑pressure tanks mounted on the vehicle. The standard for modern passenger hydrogen cars is to compress hydrogen to very high pressures and store it in multiple carbon‑fiber composite tanks. This approach prioritizes safety and space efficiency while delivering a usable driving range between fills.
Before we dive into the details, here are the key metrics that determine how much hydrogen a car can carry and how far it can go on a full tank.
- Capacity: Most contemporary fuel-cell vehicles store about 4–6 kilograms of hydrogen in total.
- Tank configuration: The hydrogen is held in typically three high‑pressure tanks arranged within the vehicle’s structure.
- Storage pressure: The standard operating pressure for today's passenger FCVs is about 700 bar (approximately 10,000 psi). Some earlier or specialty systems have used different pressures, but 700 bar is the current norm for mainstream models.
- Driving range per fill: With a typical capacity of 4–6 kg, most cars offer around 300 miles (roughly 480 kilometers) of range under standard driving conditions.
- Refueling time: Replenishing a hydrogen tank generally takes about 3–5 minutes, similar to refueling a gasoline vehicle, depending on the station and temperature conditions.
Concluding from these figures, the amount of hydrogen a car stores is a balance between the tank’s physical space, safety requirements, and the target driving range. Real-world range will vary with weather, speed, terrain, and how aggressively the vehicle is driven.
Understanding the numbers in context
To put the capacity into perspective, the energy content of hydrogen and the efficiency of the fuel-cell drivetrain shape how much range you get from a full tank. Hydrogen has about 33.3 kilowatt-hours of energy per kilogram on a lower heating value basis (about 39.6 kWh/kg on a higher heating value basis). With roughly 4–6 kilograms on board, and typical electric-drive efficiency, that energy translates into a practical range around the 300‑mile mark, though exact figures depend on the specific vehicle and driving conditions.
As the technology develops, some new designs may adjust tank layouts or pressures, but for the foreseeable future, the combination of three high‑pressure tanks at about 700 bar remains the standard configuration for mainstream hydrogen cars, aimed at delivering a convenient, quick refuel with a solid driving range.
Summary
Most hydrogen-powered passenger cars carry about 4–6 kilograms of hydrogen, stored in three high‑pressure tanks pressurized to around 700 bar. This setup typically provides roughly 300 miles of driving range per fill, with fueling times of about 3–5 minutes. The exact numbers vary by model, climate, and driving style, but the 700‑bar, multi‑tank configuration remains the industry standard for current consumer vehicles.
