Volkswagen has gone all-in on battery-electric vehicles, firmly rejecting the hydrogen fuel cell. Why? The German automaker has offered a clear and simple explanation.

These are exciting times for the auto industry. The car biz is in a state of complete disruption, reinventing itself to provide a sustainable, reduced-carbon future, and we are lucky enough to be here at this moment to see the history in the making. It’s fascinating that the world’s two largest automakers, Volkswagen and Toyota, have chosen two remarkably different approaches: VW has gone all-in on battery-electric power, pledging to be all-electric in Europe by 2030. Toyota has taken a more complicated, multi-faceted approach, including a notable emphasis on hydogen fuel cells—although the company’s plans are currently evolving.

To explain its strategy, which includes a clear rejection of fuel cell vehicles, at least for now, a while back VW posted on the web a complete technical breakdown. WIth typical German engineering efficiency, the webpage lays out the critical points with total clarity, including infographics, and we invite you to look it over yourself here. Meanwhile, here’s a brief summary.

Long story short, fuel cell electric vehicles offer considerably less operating efficiency than battery-electric. The numbers are variable but broadly speaking, the battery-electric vehicle is around 70 to 80 percent efficient in turning electricity into wheeled motion, while the overall efficiency of the fuel cell vehicle is only around 25 to 35 percent.

The trouble with hydrogen, as VW sees it: There are considerable energy losses in production via electrolysis, in storage and distribution, and in the vehicle’s onboard fuel cell itself. And in the view of Volkswagen engineers, this disparity in operating efficiency is too great a handicap to overcome. “No sustainable economy can afford to use twice the amount of renewable energy to drive with fuel cell passenger cars rather than battery-powered vehicles,” notes Dietmar Voggenreiter, who headed the study.

VW included several more strikes against fuel cell vehicles in its presentation, including the high cost and emissions of hydrogen production, along with the far greater progress in the battery-electric infrastructure. Still, VW hasn’t completely closed the door on hydrogen. “Volkswagen Group Research is continuing to explore fuel cell technology,” the company notes, and recent patent applications seem to confirm that. However, the automomaker’s plans for production vehicles in the foreseeable future are unequivocal. The title of the digital postion paper is, “Hydrogen or battery? A clear case, until further notice.”

Illustrations courtesy of Volkswagen.