LOCATIONS

Go where you want to go! The coordinated deployment of hydrogen stations across the state is providing the freedom to travel. Most stations are clustered in urban areas where driving a few miles can take 20 minutes. Stations in destination locations like Santa Barbara, Napa and Truckee mean weekend getaways with your FCEV. And the station in Coalinga means you can take a zero-emission trip from San Francisco or Sacramento to Los Angeles with a five-minute stop in the middle. This is just the beginning...
 

Find Hydrogen Stations

Hydrogen Station Buyer's Guide

REFILLING

It's as easy as 1-2-3.

  1. Swipe your credit card.
  2. Attach the nozzle and fill.
  3. Hang the nozzle back up.

 

Your car fills in about five minutes—easy, clean and safe. You're back on the road and ready for hundreds of miles before the next refueling stop.

Hydrogen is dispensed as a compressed gas. Most passenger vehicles use H70—compressed to 70 mPa—and larger vehicles use H35 (35 mPa). The station is a closed-loop system that meets national and international codes and standards.

SAFETY

Nothing drips, spills or stinks when you fill the tank with lighter-than-air hydrogen. Safety systems at the station and on the vehicle are designed for a buoyant, gaseous fuel.
 

Hydrogen, like every fuel, has specific properties and behaviors which are understood and used in the safe design and use of the fueling system. Designed and installed to safety codes and standards, a hydrogen station has several different safety systems that work together. If flame detectors or gas sensors detect a fire or significant leak, then safety systems automtically activate, isolating the storage tanks, stopping hydrogen flow or—in the case of an extreme fire—safely vent the hydrogen. Strategically placed emergency stops will manually shut down hydrogen equipment. Station developers work within internal safety and hazard mitigation protocols, the fire code, and with their local authorities to maximize station safety.

MAKING HYDROGEN

Hydrogen is all around us, but bound to other molecules—CH4, H2O, C2OH6. Producing hydrogen means separating from other molecules—something that's done all day, every day for the last 90 years. Because H2 comes from so many sources, every region of the world can produce its own fuel, which leads to better energy security for everyone.

steam reforming natural gas


Most hydrogen is made by steam reforming natural gas. Its an efficient and cost-effective process process where CH4 reacts with  high-temperature steam (H2O) in the presence of a catalyst to separate the hydrogen from other molecules.

water electrolysis


Some hydrogen is made by electrolysis; passing a current of renewable electricity (sun, wind, geothermal) through water. The H2 is stored and O2 released into the air.

methane from plant and animal waste


A National Fuel Cell Research Center report shows that low-cost renewable hydrogen production in California is possible over the next decade with the right policy incentives.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Global Hydrogen & FCEVs

Countries across the world are deploying fuel cell cars, bus, trucks, trains and more as well as hydrogen fueling infrastructure. China, Germany, Japan and South Korea are in the forefront and other countries have followed them in releasing their own hydrogen road maps or strategies.

California is also in the forefront of fuel cell electric vehicle deployment, and the successes and lessons learned here contribute to deployment efforts around the globe.

In 2018, H2FCP released its 2030 vision, foreshadowing the strategy documents released by other countries. In early 2020, the U.S. Hydrogen Economy Road Map was released.

Funding for hydrogen stations and other alternative fuels in California is via the Energy Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. The AB 8 statute authorizes the California Energy Commission to develop and deploy alternative and renewable fuels and advanced transportation technologies to help meet the state's goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum dependence in the transportation sector.

10 Facts about Hydrogen

Hydrogen is transported safely through 700 miles of US pipelines and 70 million gallons of liquid hydrogen is transported annually by truck over US highways without major incident

Available

Available


Hydrogen is produced and transported across the US and around the world every day

Hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air

Buoyant

Buoyant


Hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air

Hydrogen is non-toxic, non-polluting and environmentally benign

Clean

Clean


Hydrogen is non-toxic, non-polluting and environmentally benign

Initially, hydrogen is about same cost-per-mile as gasoline, but expected to be less as more FCEVs are on the road

Cost

Cost


Automakers include three years of hydrogen fuel with the sale or lease of a vehicle

Outside of its container, hydrogen rapidly dissipates

Diffusive

Diffusive


Outside of its container, hydrogen rapidly dissipates

Zero air pollutants and reduced greenhouse gases

Emissions

Emissions


Zero air pollutants and reduced greenhouse gases

Excess solar and wind energy that would normally be lost can be stored as hydrogen fuel

Energy storage

Energy storage


Excess solar and wind energy that would normally be lost can be stored as hydrogen fuel

Every region of the world can create its hydrogen

Local

Local


Every region of the world can create its hydrogen

Approximately 10-11 million metric tons of hydrogen are produced in the US each year; enough to power 20-30 million cars or 5-8 million homes

Plentiful

Plentiful


Approximately 10-11 million metric tons of hydrogen are produced in the US each year

58% of the hydrogen produced today is used in refining gasoline. It’s also used in fertilizers, food processing and making consumer products like toothpaste and laundry detergent

Useful

Useful


Hydrogen is part of the products that you use every dayfrom gasoline to toothpaste.