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There was a boom in hydrogen energy development at the beginning of this century, but due to the immaturity of technologies related to hydrogen storage and utilization, it will be difficult for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to achieve large-scale commercialization in the short term. Last year's U.S. President's State of the Union address did not mention hydrogen fuel cells for the first time. The EU is relatively proactive in the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles; last October, it adopted legislative proposals for their development, with the EU and private companies each investing 470 million euros over the next 6 years to advance this field. Countries around the world generally recognize that hydrogen fuel cells may represent the ultimate development direction for vehicle energy, but the large-scale industrialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is a long-term process. High initial costs and short service life are the main obstacles to the adoption of fuel cell vehicles. The target lifespan of vehicle fuel cell systems that meet commercial requirements should be no less than 5,000 hours; publicly reported lifespans for vehicle fuel cells abroad do not exceed 2,200 hours, while the lifespans of fuel cells in China are generally around 1,500 hours. However, with the development of high-pressure hydrogen storage technology, the range of fuel cell vehicles is gradually increasing. At the beginning of last year, General Motors’ Sequel fuel cell vehicle achieved a range of 300 miles per charge for the first time during actual road tests ； Last September, Toyota’s FCHV fuel cell vehicle was able to travel 348 miles in actual road tests by using only 70% of the hydrogen stored in its tank; its range could reach 450 miles. With the advancement of secondary battery technology, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology is showing a trend toward hybridization. Last March, Ford Motor Company showcased the world’s first drivable plug-in fuel cell hybrid vehicle in Kansas. The vehicle combines an on-board hydrogen fuel cell generator with lithium-ion batteries; the lithium-ion battery pack provides power for the first 25 miles, while the fuel cell supplies power for another 200 miles of driving. China’s current fuel cell cars have reached the fourth generation, with the performance parameters of the prototype vehicles being on par with international standards. In terms of fuel cell buses, hydrogen fuel cell buses developed jointly by companies such as Shanghai Shenli in 2007 were exported abroad for the first time, and they won bids for several international demonstration projects involving fuel cell city buses. Fuel cells may be a long-term solution to replace oil as a power source for vehicles. However, the development of fuel cell technology will be a long-term process, and it is expected that fuel cell technology and its hybrid systems will not be available for large-scale commercial use until at least 2020.