Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is providing San Francisco $250,000 in funding to increase the deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen infrastructure in the Bay Area. “Hydrogen fuel cell electric and plug-in electric vehicles are pathways to achieve healthier and cleaner air for our communities,” said Mayor Lee. “San Francisco is committed to reducing the number of vehicles on the road by investing in sustainable transit options and ensuring that vehicles on the road will be zero emissions.”

Hydrogen FCEV cars emit only water vapor out of the tail pipe. The current benefits of hydrogen-powered over full plug-in electric powered vehicles is currently in their range and rate of refueling. The recently released Toyota Mirai can travel an estimated 312 miles on a tank of compressed hydrogen and can refill in less than five minutes. Some of the challenges that will be evaluated as part of San Francisco’s study are the cost and feasibility of expanding the necessary hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The State of California is also supporting the expansion of the hydrogen refueling network with the California Energy Commission providing up to $20 million per year to implement a network of 100 new hydrogen refueling stations in California by 2020