Policies and Deployment for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles An Assessment of the Normandy Project

Julien Brunet (1) , Jean-Pierre Ponssard (2, 1)

1 X-DEP-ECO - Département d'Économie de l'École Polytechnique
2 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

The paper provides a cost benefit analysis of one of the most prominent deployment project in France of fuel cell electric vehicles, taking place in Normandy. The project builds on the substitution of a diesel Renault Kangoo by an electric Renault Kangoo ZE with a fuel cell range extender for public fleets. The analysis points out potential weaknesses of the project as it is envisioned today using a decomposition of the value-chain. To achieve sustainability in 2025 a much stronger deployment should take place. This would allow for a sharp decrease in the total cost of ownership thanks to a close coordination between hydrogen production and its delivery through refilling stations to take advantage of the expected increasing volume of hydrogen consumption along the deployment path. This suggests that a high level in public funds at this early deployment phase can be critical for the success of the project.

Keywords: fuel cell electric vehicles; cost benefit analysis; public policies; infrastructure

Domains: Economics and Finance; Environmental studies

Julien Brunet, Jean-Pierre Ponssard. Policies and Deployment for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles An Assessment of the Normandy Project. 2016. ⟨hal-01366205⟩