Shell Closes Hydrogen Station In California, How Are Toyota Mirai And Hyundai Nexo Owners?

Hyundai Nexo at the hydrogen filling station. (Doc. Hyundai Motor Group)

JAKARTA - Bad news comes from British-based oil company Shell. The leading oil company announced its plans to permanently close seven hydrogen charging stations in California, United States.

With this decision, Shell will no longer operate light hydrogen charging stations in the US. This will clearly have an impact on hydrogen car lovers and the US hydrogen vehicle market, where California is the only region that has this supporting infrastructure.

According to a report from InsideEVs, Monday, February 12, the closure of the charging station was caused by various factors, including hydrogen supply complications and other external market conditions, said a statement from Vice President of Shell Hydrogen, Andrew Beard.

Based on a scanning map from Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership (H2FCP), Shell currently operates seven of California's 55 retail hydrogen stations. With this closure, supporting infrastructure for hydrogen cars in this state will decline.

Outside Shell's hydrogen station, the majority of facilities in Southern California have been deactivating or operating with limited working hours. In fact, it was reported that this reduction had disrupted station operations since August 13.

On the H2FCP map, each station has a different notification than the one installed in the scan. In addition, Iwatani, one of the gas companies and a hydrogen station carrier in the US, is also experiencing disruptions affecting infrastructure in Hawaiian Gardens.

Several hydrogen charging stations also experience serious problems so they cannot be operated. Currently, Iwatani is suing the core technology provider company for their charging station.

In filing his lawsuit, the company is accused of not testing their equipment in actual commercial scenarios, hiding defects, and misleading the company. This situation certainly creates chaos amid growing interest in hydrogen vehicles in the region.

It also creates uncertainty about the future of hydrogen technology in the US, especially with the difficulties it faces. Although some vehicles traveling in the US have used hydrogen fuel, such as Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Clarity, production of Honda Clarity has been discontinued in 2021.

Several manufacturers such as Porsche and BMW are also considering adopting hydrogen systems on their production vehicles, as an alternative option for environmentally friendly cars other than battery electric vehicles (EVs).