California Gets 33rd Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Refueling Station — Why The Slow Pace Of Infrastructure Development?
California’s 33rd hydrogen fuel cell vehicle refueling station was recently opened — at an existing gas/petrol refueling station in the city of Thousand Oaks, just northwest of Los Angeles.
The new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle refueling station was developed by FirstElement Fuel, reportedly, and is located at 3102 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362. The new refueling station is open 24 hours a day (no doubt why it’s located at an existing gas station complex).
A press release on the matter provides a bit more information: “Thousand Oaks is the second largest city in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. Ventura is often described as being part of California’s Central Coast. To learn more about the station, you can visit CaFCP’s station map at http://cafcp.org/stationmap. CaFCP also has a mobile-friendly website, Station Operational Status System (SOSS), that shows station availability and provides other station information (hours of operation, address, H2 station operator and developer, etc.): http://m.cafcp.org.”
So, why am I covering this? Because even after all of the years of development, all of the money involved, and all of the PR statements, there are still only 33 places in all of California were hydrogen fuel cell vehicle owners can refill their tanks. And, that’s the situation in the only state in the USA with retail hydrogen vehicle refueling infrastructure. (There are 4 non-retail stations in the eastern USA.)
So, I have to ask here: How can hydrogen fuel cell vehicle proponents still claim that refueling infrastructure development is being taken serious by the auto manufacturers claiming to support the vehicles?
How can proponents still claim that hydrogen fuel cell cars (in the USA) are anything other than a PR exercise and distraction meant to excuse slow action to date on EVs?
By the way, those hydrogen refueling stations are bloody expensive, which is one major reason why there are only 33 in the USA.
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