A Hydrogen-Powered Road Trip: 365 Miles Across Texas

In 2003, a convoy of hydrogen-fueled vehicles traveled through the Los Angeles area to demonstrate the growth of this next-generation energy technology. The drivers, including hydrogen luminary Alan Lloyd, weren't sure how it would go. Due to safety concerns about the then-emerging technology, they brought along a police escort for the "Rally Thru the Valley."

Twenty-two years later, another hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle caravan took to the road. This time, it happened in Texas, which is emerging as a global hydrogen hub. A group of students and staffers from The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Electromechanics (CEM) drove from Austin to Houston to attend the Hydrogen Technology Expo.

On this occasion, the fleet of Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicles didn't need a police escort. And the drivers and passengers, which also included Lloyd in a full-circle moment, weren't nearly as worried about the 365-mile round trip's success.

"We drove effortlessly and smoothly along Highway 290," Lloyd said. "Seeing what we had started 20 years ago in California manifest on Texas roads is satisfying. The drive stirred enthusiasm with the students, staff and attendees of the expo."

They made it back with a quarter tank to spare, averaging the equivalent of 85 miles per gallon. The trip signifies the steady progress of hydrogen research and marks 20 years of hydrogen innovation at CEM. It shows the possibilities of hydrogen vehicles, the efficiency chief among them, and the need to develop infrastructure around them.

"We installed the first permanent hydrogen fueling station in Texas nearly 20 years ago to support R&D at the University," said Mike Lewis, director of CEM. "Today, we have an upgraded hydrogen R&D facility, known as the Hydrogen ProtoHub, which is providing a proving ground for hydrogen technologies and supporting training and education."

A First-of-Its-Kind Hydrogen Facility

In April 2024, UT CEM opened a first-of-its-kind hydrogen technology facility at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. The Hydrogen ProtoHub has on-site hydrogen generation, storage, distribution and a vehicle fueling station - demonstrating the entire hydrogen ecosystem.

Beyond vehicle fueling, the Hydrogen ProtoHub also seeks to address another critical energy challenge.

"We are looking to help meet the power demands of AI and data centers," said Lewis, "so we are using some of the hydrogen we generate on-site to create power for the Texas Advanced Computing Center."

A few days before the opening of the facility, three Toyota Mirais arrived, playing an important role in demonstrating hydrogen fueling for mobility. Like California, Japan was an early adopter of hydrogen integration and is now a global leader in hydrogen technology development. In the early 1990s, Toyota began researching fuel cell electric vehicles, which eventually led to the development of the current-day second-generation Toyota Mirai. The Mirai is an electric vehicle that runs on energy from hydrogen and emits only water vapor, making it a zero-emissions vehicle. "Mirai" means "future" in Japanese.

Lloyd, now a research associate at CEM, was instrumental in arranging the use of the vehicles in Texas as part of the team's research. Lloyd has a hydrogen résumé dating back to 1999, when he was chairman of the California Air Resources Board. He worked closely with organizations such as California's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership, of which Toyota was and currently is an industry member.

Qualified UT staff members, students and project partners operate and use the vehicles daily in their research efforts. Because these are zero-emissions vehicles, the team has slightly decreased its carbon footprints. During the past year, the Mirais have driven more than 25,000 miles on Texas roads, while averaging 76 miles per gallon equivalent overall.

Road Trip

Since obtaining the vehicles and implementing the fueling dispensers, the CEM hydrogen team has tested the range and fuel economy by traveling to other areas of Texas, including Gonzales, San Antonio, West and Fredericksburg.

CEM student research assistant Grace Childers is a chemical engineering senior who drove one of the cars on the Houston trip. For the past three years, Childers has gained hands-on experience at the Hydrogen ProtoHub, with a focus on systems integration with hydrogen production and end-use technologies, including hydrogen fueling for fuel cell electric vehicles. Graduating in December, Childers is exploring the possibility of graduate school, while keeping her employment options open.

"When I explained to my friends and family or anybody who asks how the hydrogen car works, I usually start by describing the fueling process and how similar that is to fueling an internal combustion engine vehicle," Childers said. "Then, just explaining that the hydrogen gas in the car combines with oxygen, and that reaction creates energy. The only emission is water vapor."

The Hydrogen ProtoHub at UT is the only publicly available hydrogen fueling station in Texas. Since Texas does not have a hydrogen fueling station network, the Houston trip carried some risk. Based on the miles per gallon equivalent from the range tests, it's always been possible to make a round trip to Houston or Dallas, but lacking options for refueling along the way still makes for a stressful trip.

"The range anxiety is real, partially caused by the Toyota Mirai displaying a conservative value for miles to empty. However, in our testing and daily operation of the Mirais, we gained confidence in the true range of the vehicles," said Austin Mabrey, a research engineer at CEM. "We drove conservatively on the way to Houston, consuming less than half a tank of fuel, ensuring plenty of fuel for the return trip to Austin."

"It was a little risky, right? We had no opportunity to refuel," Lewis said. "Thinking about it beforehand, monitoring the vehicles for about a year, and our daily driving gave us confidence that we could do this and meet the range.

He continued, "We talked about doing such a road trip for over a year, often with hesitancy and doubt, but decided now was the time to prove it could be done, to make it happen,"

In June, they used the Hydrogen Technology Expo at the NRG Center in Houston as the perfect opportunity to showcase the vehicles and take a field trip with their student interns.

While Childers felt confident about the trip based on previous range tests, "I knew I wasn't going to feel 100% sure until we got to Houston," she said.

"But after the first leg of the trip and having five-eighths of a tank left, I was ready to book it on the way home," she continued. "When we were back in the CEM parking lot, that's when it felt really great. It felt really cool to be part of this."

The Texas Hydrogen Hub

The trip marks the first time a hydrogen fuel cell caravan has traveled Texas roads. Fuel cell vehicles are rare because of a lack of hydrogen fueling infrastructure across the state.

However, the road to hydrogen integration in Texas is gaining some traction. Recently, the North Central Texas Council of Governments received a federal grant to build a heavy-duty truck fueling station network in Texas. The HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub, a collaborative project across the Texas Gulf Coast with significant involvement from UT, aims to support a hydrogen fueling station network with its hydrogen production and distribution projects.

Building this future requires workforce development and hands-on training, and the Hydrogen ProtoHub serves as a vital educational resource. The facility regularly hosts visitors, giving tours weekly to various groups including students, potential industry partners and community stakeholders.

"The value that this site brings to students is really about the hands-on experience," Lewis said. "Taking what they're learning in school - all the math, physics and thermodynamics - and really making it real and tangible. It's a great place for education, outreach, workforce development and training."

For students like Childers, the experience has been career-defining.

"Getting to work on hydrogen technology in such a practical sense, coupled with the theoretical knowledge that we gain in the classroom, has confirmed that I would love to stay in the energy industry somehow," she said.