Hydrogen fuel cells are an alternative power supply for electric drive trains and could represent 32% of fuel demand by 2050. Current barriers to mass implementation of hydrogen in transport arise from European Directive 2014/94/EU and OIML recommendations that must be met by all European hydrogen refuelling stations. FCEV have been rolled out worldwide with more than 8000 vehicles on the road. The number of HRSs is increasing across Europe (> 100 HRSs in 2018) to support FCEVs roll-out. However, measurement challenges are still preventing the overall sector from growing quickly enough to meet 2050 targets of the European Commission in line with the COP21 agreement. Reference materials (RMs) and reliable measurements are required to resolve these urgent measurement challenges for the industry and end-users in the areas of fuel standards, hydrogen sampling and stability of critical contaminants in hydrogen. According to European Directive 2014/94/EU, HRSs shall comply with ISO 14687-2 which provides maximum limits for 14 contaminants. These contaminants cause degradation of the FCEV and dramatically reduce its lifetime. End users require quality control RMs to evaluate commercial laboratory performance and ensure measurement reliability. Contaminant stability in the gas phase has not been studied at these trace level amounts. Therefore, the reliability of hydrogen fuel sampling is currently unknown. Contaminant stability in gas cylinders is a challenge to ensure reliable laboratory measurements are made.