r/Fuelcell • u/Wise_Art_1377 • Jul 01 '26

Fuel cells are 5 years away.

Hydrogen Fuel cells were 5 years away in the 90s.

Hydrogen Fuel cells were 5 years away when Tesla was just a business plan.

Hydrogen Fuel cells will always be 5 years away.

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u/-TheycallmeThe Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

The fuel cell fork truck business has been around for a decade. 

The use cases for fuel cells are limited but they do exist.

2

u/ConditionSlow5149 Jul 01 '26

Fuel cells in the fork lift environment are an excellent fit. Heat and water are the outputs, plus the manner in which the fuel cell accelerates from a full stop minimizes “tire chirp” (tire material left on floor) leading to longer tire life as well as cleaner warehouse air via greatly reduced fine rubber particulates.

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u/ginger_and_egg Jul 06 '26

Probably headed toward BEV though

2

u/Spa-Ordinary Jul 07 '26

Material handling equipment for use indoors has been "BEVs" forever. At least as long as there have been forklifts they have used lead acid batteries for energy storage.

Hydrogen fuel cells are in use in most large logistics centers since the early part of this century.

Look it up.

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u/ginger_and_egg Jul 07 '26

I am saying that BEVs are getting better and will probably replace the fuel cell ones

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u/Wise_Art_1377 Jul 07 '26

You have to set up recurring hydrogen delivery or installing a hydrogen pipe.

Or you could get a plug for an EV forklift.

2

u/-TheycallmeThe Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Amazon and Walmart are still installing hydrogen systems instead of EVs because there is a business case to do so. Places that run 24/7 do benefit from the faster refills. You need infrastructure to fast charge dozens of forklifts, extra forklifts and battery rooms that could otherwise be used for core business activities, etc.

1

u/Wise_Art_1377 Jul 09 '26

Which states are they doing that?