BMW Sets Its Sights on Fuel Cell Cars . . . and Platinum Investors Are Excited
If you’ve been reading the Specialty Metals Blog over the last year, you know that we have been monitoring the increasing acceptance of hydrogen fuel cell cars, which promise to create greater demand for platinum. (Why? Because platinum is used to convert hydrogen to electricity that is used to power the cars.)
If you have been reading our posts, you also know that up until now, you have only been able to buy fuel cell cars in Hawaii and California, the only states where it is possible to buy hydrogen at a filling station.
Bigger changes could be coming, and one of them is that BMW is increasing its investments in fuel cell technology. BMW even released an online advisory, “Hydrogen fuel cell cars: everything you need to know” that explains the basics of hydrogen fuel cell cars. BMW is not yet selling fuel cell vehicles in North America, but as this report indicates, the company is planning to. And the report states that sales of fuel cell cars are awaiting the time when hydrogen-filling stations are installed across the U.S.
Toyota Sets Its Sights on Fuel Cells Too
Lots of news outlets are currently reporting that Toyota, another giant automaker, is increasing its testing of fuel-cell-powered vehicles. Just recently, Toyota has been testing large trucks that are powered by fuel cell engines. And on the non-vehicular front, Toyota has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a fuel cell-powered generator that can supply electricity to areas where power outages have occurred.
What Do These Trends Mean for Platinum Investors?
The engines of fuel cell-powered cars contain platinum catalysts.
If infrastructure is installed that will distribute hydrogen to fueling stations nationwide, fuel cell cars could one day become as popular and common as electric and gas-hybrid vehicles. As the news from BMW and Toyota implies, that day could be coming nearer. If that does in fact come, we could see an increasing demand for platinum and therefore, the pricing for that metal could increase.
Be aware however, that experiments are now being conducted to develop non-platinum, cheaper catalysts for use in fuel cells. But until those alternative catalysts are developed and become practical, there is reason to expect that a brighter future for platinum could be dawning.
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If you have scrap, call our precious metal consultants at 800-426-2344 to learn more.