Stations

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...

Refilling

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

Swipe your credit card.
Attach the nozzle and fill.
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.

How It Works

Hydrogen Refueling Explained - Toyota Mirai

How To Fuel With Hydrogen Illustration (H2FCP)

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.

The Center for Hydrogen Safety (AIChE)

Hydrogen Safety & First Responder Courses (AIChE/CHS)

Safety, Codes, and Standards (DOE)

NFPA 2 and the California Fire Code

Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook

Zero-Emission Vehicle Projects (CDFA Division of Measurement Standards)

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.

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

How Does It Work (DOE)

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.

How can we use excess renewable energy? (Toyota)

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.

Roadmap for the Deployment & Buildout of Renewable Hydrogen Production Plants in California - UC Irvine

Infrastructure

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.

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.

Fuel Cell Electric Trucks: A Vision for Freight Movement in California and Beyond

The California Fuel Cell Revolution

Road Map to a US Hydrogen Economy - Full Report

NREL Station Cost Analysis 2019

Towards Competitive Refueling Infrastructure

2022 FCEV and Hydrogen Station Network Development Report (ARB)

Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook