AFAIK even if the fuel cell was free it would still not be competitive. The reason being that you need 2-3x more electrical energy to get the same kinetiv energ

AFAIK even if the fuel cell was free it would still not be competitive. The reason being that you need 2-3x more electrical energy to get the same kinetiv energy if you store it in hydrogen rather than lithium based batteries. There goes the entire price advantage you have over gasoline cars - in order to get the mass market it needs to be cheaper both upfront and to run it, which only batteries can achieve, safe some revolutionary new way to convert electricity to hydrogen. There could be niche usecases though, such as long range trucks or buses - if energy density is more important than fuel cost.