A Review of Future Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles and Challenges Related to Morocco

Abstract

According to estimates from Madrid, Paris and Berlin, Morocco wants to provide Europe with substantial amounts of solar energy and green hydrogen in the future, paving the way for climate neutrality. Morocco is a leader in climate and energy policy in Africa, as well as in the rest of the world. The Maghreb state is pursuing aggressive CO2 reduction targets and has been a major participant in international climate talks, hosting COP22 in Marrakech in 2016. By the end of 2020, the country had built just over 40 percent renewable capacity, and this is expected to reach 52 percent by 2030. Morocco's energy policy plan has now added an ambitious new goal: it aspires to become the global market leader in green hydrogen production. With the growing demand for this new zero-emission fuel, hydrogen manufacturing is a solid bet for the future. In addition, the Kingdom has set ambitious targets for reducing CO2 emissions and integrating electric vehicles as the main solution to reach the 2030 targets. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of fuel cell electric vehicles as well as explore the future of FCEVs in Morocco through an in-depth analysis of the Moroccan hydrogen roadmap. In addition, a SWOT analysis was detailed to determine the key success factor to encourage the adoption of FCEVs in the Kingdom. In the same sense, this paper represents an overview of electric vehicles established for the future realization of prototype FCEVs by our team, this through the integration of the fuel cell in a solar electric vehicle, possibly providing a hybrid power system.