Hydrogen gas fuel shortage causing long lines to refuel

Drivers seeking hydrogen fuel had to wait in an hourslong line to refuel due to a shortage. 

One Chevron station in Studio City saw wait times off up to two to three hours Thursday night as a supply chain disruption caused a major shortage that is affecting dozens of stations.

According to the hydrogen fuel cell partnership, there are 52 of these hydrogen stations in California, but only nine of them are currently working.

Some drivers said they traveled from far and wide to try and fill up.

A view from NewsChopper4 Thursday night showed how severe those lines were last night, blocking an entire right line as we saw tons of brake lights.

Many drivers even put on their hazard lights to be safe. 

“Right now, you can get fuel, but you’ll only get a small ration of it,” said Dylan Visvikis. “You’ll get a very tiny portion. If you try to fill up more than that, you’ll just get a little drip.”

Some cars were so low on gas they had to be pushed to the pump.

The hydrogen fuel cell partnership says there’s been a disruption in the gaseous hydrogen supply chain since February. 

NBC4 has reached out to figure out why that is. We have learned that higher-capacity liquid hydrogen stations like this one are gradually coming back online and hydrogen deliveries to the stations have been scheduled.

Drivers who have a fuel cell EV should check their app to see which stations have gas.