Battery or fuel cell for heavy vehicles? A balanced look
Battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell trucks solve the same problem in different ways. Energy efficiency, infrastructure cost and what India's hydrogen pilots are testing.
Published 3 min read
The name BFCEV spells out as Battery Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. Battery and fuel cell are two ways to power an electric drivetrain, so the name covers both. It does not say which one any given project uses. This piece explains the trade-offs without picking a winner in advance.
Two ways to carry the energy
A battery-electric vehicle stores electricity on board and uses it directly. A fuel-cell electric vehicle stores hydrogen and converts it to electricity on board. Both drive an electric motor; the difference is what you carry, and what has to exist at the roadside to refill it.
Efficiency and cost today
The IEA's Global EV Outlook 2025 estimates battery-electric trucks are about 55% more energy-efficient than diesel, and fuel cell trucks about 30% more efficient. It finds fuel cell trucks remain more expensive than battery-electric trucks through 2030 in China, the EU and the US, and puts their total cost of ownership around 35% above diesel in China in 2024, where battery-electric trucks are already below diesel in a number of applications.
Prices are not static. The IEA expects purchase prices of both battery-electric and fuel cell trucks to fall over the next five years, while both are expected to stay above diesel at the point of purchase. A comparison made today can therefore be out of date within a planning cycle, which is a reason to keep it tied to a dated source.
Refuelling is where they differ most
The IEA notes a real hydrogen advantage: a hydrogen refuelling station can serve many trucks a day without the local grid impact of high-power chargers. But it costs more to build than a charging point. In the IEA's comparison, a highly utilised 350 kW charger covers more than twice as many vehicle-km per USD 1 million invested as a highly utilised hydrogen station. Refuelling infrastructure's share of fuel cell truck cost of ownership is nearly 10% in China and more than 15% in Europe and the US, against over 10% in the EU and US but around 3% in China for charging on battery-electric trucks.
- Battery-electric: higher energy efficiency, and charging infrastructure that covers more vehicle-km per unit invested in the IEA comparison; charging time and grid connections are the constraints.
- Fuel cell: one station can serve many trucks a day without the local grid impact of high-power chargers; lower efficiency and higher station cost are the trade-off.
What India is testing
In March 2025, Mercom India reported that the government launched five pilot projects covering 37 hydrogen-powered vehicles on 10 routes under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Pilots exist to find out what works in real operation; they are not evidence that one technology has won.
Questions worth asking of either technology
- How far does the vehicle run in a day, and how heavy is it loaded?
- Where does it stand overnight, and can that place be a refuelling or charging point?
- How busy will the station be? The IEA's cost figures move sharply with utilisation.
- Which source and date is the comparison drawn from?
Written by the BFCEV editorial team. This is a general explainer. It describes no BFCEV site, truck, network, customer or result.
Sources
Each source below was opened and read when this piece was written.
- Global EV Outlook 2025 — Trends in heavy-duty electric vehiclesInternational Energy Agency (IEA)https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2025/trends-in-heavy-duty-electric-vehicles (opens in a new tab)
- Government launches pilot project for hydrogen-fueled buses and trucksMercom Indiahttps://mercomindia.com/government-launches-pilot-project-for-hydrogen-fueled-buses-and-trucks (opens in a new tab)
