2023-12-21 05:00:00
After sinking $6 million into a “test bench,” the government has just gotten rid of its latest hydrogen-powered car. No other investment is planned, warns the Ministry of Energy, which nevertheless has great hope in this technology.
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The government missed its bet by embarking on a costly project to equip itself with light hydrogen vehicles, experts point out, while the appetite for this type of vehicle is non-existent (see other text).
“It was predictable from the start. We had millions to lose without a real plan,” says Pierre-Olivier Pineau, professor in the Chair of Energy Sector Management at HEC.
In 2017, the Liberal Minister of Natural Resources, Pierre Moreau, established a “test bench” for light hydrogen vehicles.
In the summer of 2018, the mayor of Quebec, Régis Labeaume, took a test drive of the Mirai before announcing the construction of a hydrogen service station in Quebec. He indicated that the City would use some of the 50 cars purchased by the government for its own needs. Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
At the time, Philippe Couillard’s government wanted to become a producer of clean hydrogen thanks to its surplus hydroelectricity. Energy Transition Quebec (TEQ) then leased 50 Toyota Mirai for a period of 48 months.
After the 2018 elections, the Coalition Avenir Québec continued the pilot project and investments. The argument put forward: study the performance of these hydrogen vehicles in a northern climate and increase knowledge on this subject.
End of project
Times have changed since the arrival of CAQ leader Pierre Fitzgibbon at the head of the new Ministry of Energy. Just like hydroelectric surpluses, government vehicles powered by hydrogen have disappeared.
On December 6, the contract for the last hydrogen vehicle ended.
“The ministry is no longer in possession of the vehicles,” confirms the spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy and the Economy, Jean-Pierre D’Auteuil, by email.
Quebec does not plan any new investment for this type of vehicle.
At the same time, the Legault and Trudeau governments are preparing to spend billions to develop the hydrogen sector. In Quebec, $1.2 billion is planned. Mauricie will also host the company TES Canada which will implement the first green hydrogen project in the country, by injecting $4 billion in private funds.
Our requests for an interview with those responsible for the test bench were refused.
“What discourages me the most is [que c’est] as if the government refused to learn from experience,” mentions Professor Pineau, maintaining that the lack of transparency was the main error. “These fifty Toyota Mirai, we really never knew where they were, if they were used.”
The Legault government says it will reveal the results of the project in 2024.
Little interest
In total, $6 million was injected into the test bench. In addition to rented vehicles, a hydrogen refueling station was inaugurated on Wilfrid-Hamel Boulevard in 2019. It cost $5.2 million and $2.9 million was paid by Quebec and $1 million by the federal government. Last year, the government planned to build a second one, but no bid was accepted.
The hydrogen refueling station in Quebec allows some individuals who have purchased Toyota Mirai to refuel DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The hydrogen refueling station on Boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel, in Quebec, remains in operation for owners of fuel cell vehicles, indicates Mr. D’Auteuil.
The company Harnois Énergies, which owns the station, admits that it feared the end of the test bench. Toyota, however, would have succeeded in passing on vehicles to individuals.
“It would be lying to you to say that we weren’t nervous,” says Catherine Gosselin, senior project manager at Harnois Énergies. She maintains that nothing has ultimately changed since the end of government leases.
“The Mirage of the Mirai”
Toyota is going “nowhere” with its hydrogen-powered electric vehicle, argues Daniel Breton, the president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada.
Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
“It’s not consumers who buy this. You can’t do anything with that,” he says.
According to the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec, around 70 hydrogen vehicles are still registered, figures which have stagnated for three years (see box). “It’s quite lamentable,” says Mr. Breton, criticizing the Quebec government’s spending on the test bench. “It was a mistake […] It was the mirage of the Mirai.”
In comparison, there are now more than 200,000 100% electric vehicles in the country. According to the latest energy report from California, home to the largest market for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), hydrogen-powered cars accounted for just 0.8% of ZEV sales for the first half of 2023.
Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau, from the Chair of Energy Sector Management at HEC, believes that one must be naive to believe that consumers will switch to hydrogen. “From the start, I found it very strange and quite possibly completely unnecessary to buy 50 Toyota Mirai,” he said. I don’t see many people defending hydrogen anymore.”
Recognize
Even the new president of Hydrogène Québec, Steven Blaney, admits that it is not the best option for the utility vehicle.
“Indeed, there are perhaps other more promising sectors for hydrogen than light mobility,” he says.
However, his organization has always believed that the government should invest in light hydrogen vehicles. “The government has shown boldness,” he argues, ensuring that the test bed will have made it possible to explore new avenues. He gives the example of the green hydrogen train which connects Quebec to Charlevoix, while being powered by the refueling station on Boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel in Quebec.
Opportunity?
The hydrogen specialist at Harnois, Catherine Gosselin, also admits that “for light vehicles”, this “is not the best solution”.
The refueling station, however, allows them to prepare the ground for heavy vehicles and the industrial sector which are difficult to electrify, she said.
“There, the volumes are more interesting. I think Harnois Énergies will find its place there. But, at the moment, there is not much available on the market.”
Professor Pineau concedes that hydrogen can meet certain needs for the energy transition, particularly with biofuels. “We need hydrogen to make liquid fuels, like in aviation or for certain tool vehicles, certain trucks,” he explained.
EVOLUTION IN THE NUMBER OF HYDROGEN VEHICLES REGISTERED IN QUEBEC
2017: 1 car
2018: 7 cars (one car from the Quebec government)
2019: 60 cars (44 cars from the Quebec government)
2020: 59 cars (41 Quebec government cars)
2021: 72 cars (46 cars from the Quebec government)
2022: 66 cars (46 Quebec government cars)
2023: 76 cars (subject to all reservations, 2023 data is subject to modification*)
(SAAQ data)
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