Lithium battery PK hydrogen fuel cell

As Asia's two biggest car powers, China and Japan are vying over whether electric vehicles should be powered by rechargeable batteries or hydrogen fuel cells in the future.

In this competition, if the victor's technology is adopted by other peers as a global standard, it can enjoy a dominant position in the industry for many years. This can not help but recall the Beta-VHS video battle between Sony and Panasonic in the 1980s.

But this time there should be a place for both rechargeable and hydrogen-fuel-cell cars in the car market. But the key question is which side will be adopted by more mainstream car dealers.

"We will be at the crossroads soon," said James Chao, Asia Pacific general manager at HIS-Automotive in Shanghai. "It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of making a choice between a rechargeable battery and a hydrogen fuel cell. "

“The investment in these two areas will be large, and it may be decided at the end of the century which company will become the industry leader.”

It is pushing for new energy vehicles, offering consumers various incentives to force international car companies to share their technology and encouraging technology and other companies to invest in the sector.

"In the past few days, Secretary Xi Jinping made a very good speech in Shanghai. He said that the development of new energy vehicles is the only way for the Chinese auto industry to be strong," Xuheyi, chairman of Beiqi Group, told reporters recently.

It is investing heavily in fuel cell technology and infrastructure as part of its national policy to develop the so-called hydrogen society.

To be sure, Chinese and Japanese companies are not the only ones doing research and development. Gm and Honda are already working together on hydrogen vehicles, BMW is a partner in the Toyota fuel-cell car project, and Daimler and Hyundai are developing hydrogen vehicles.

At the same time, China is pushing ahead with new energy vehicles at full speed and is encouraging cash-rich technology companies to invest in the car industry.

The move has spawned more than a dozen related start-ups, including Baidu (BIDU), Alibaba (BABA), Xiaomi, Tencent, Le TV, etc.

However, there could be no technological development without considerable challenges, from regulation to subsidies to infrastructure.

Both China and Japan need to scale up the infrastructure, and electric vehicles need to reassure long-haul owners about their ability to sail, and the appeal of hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles to VW could be overshadowed by their cost.

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