It's Not Hydrogen vs. Lithium - It's Both

Making better uses of our precious resources... 

As the world becomes more and more dependent on lithium, we have to get smarter about how we use it. 

Image credit: Dan Sturges

Take the example of the F150 truck - a Viritech hydrogen powertrain would require a lithium battery weighing just 240 lbs (rather than the 1,800 lbs battery currently used), reducing the amount of lithium by 87% - enough battery power to build 260 e-bikes. 

Furthermore, using a lithium battery in conjunction with a hydrogen powertrain will also extend the life of the battery because it removes extreme load cycles (which wear the battery out quickly), instead using the battery as a load balance, where it will generally operate within 40 - 80% of its load capacity. This can be expected to increase the life of the battery by 3-5x. 

So in this example, a hydrogen powertrain would require just 1/8th of the amount of lithium and extend the battery’s life by 3-5x – making better use of lithium by a factor of up to 40x. 

With projections showing we are likely to face a lithium shortage around 2028 and increasing evidence that unless a mix of measures is taken to ameliorate the sustainability of lithium, there will be a long-term threat to the transport sector, using hydrogen powertrains to reduce the demand for lithium batteries is both a smart and a necessary solution. 

So there you have it, Viritech's hydrogen powertrain solutions - saving precious resources and delivering the best of both worlds...