Hydrogen fuel cell powered cars are a myth propagated by automakers that are not interested in making more efficient cars. No, they're not a myth in the sense that they don't exist. They're a myth in the sense that they'll never contribute to a less fossil-fuel-intensive system of powering vehicles.
Hydrogen doesn't come out of the ground (in quantities usable to power fleets of vehicles) and it doesn't grow on trees. Practically, it is not a power source, it is a means of storing power. Using grid power to make hydrogen to power a vehicle is less efficient, more expensive, heavier and inferior in just about every conceivable other way to using that power to charge a battery. Making hydrogen from natural gas is even worse from a global warming perspective.
The only advantage I can think of over a plug-in hybrid, is that you can fill a hydrogen tank faster than you can charge a battery, but with a hybrid with decent all-electric range, most trips will be all electric and the gasoline engine/generator will work for longer trips without a need to wait while the battery charges. Also, if electrically powered vehicles become mainstream, it would make sense to have battery swap stations, where leased batteries that you had discharged could be swapped for fully charged batteries. If properly automated, this would probably be faster than filling a gas tank, let alone a hydrogen tank.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Che @ Jan 14th 2008 6:37PM
Hippy,
Hydrogen fuel cell powered cars are a myth propagated by automakers that are not interested in making more efficient cars. No, they're not a myth in the sense that they don't exist. They're a myth in the sense that they'll never contribute to a less fossil-fuel-intensive system of powering vehicles.
Hydrogen doesn't come out of the ground (in quantities usable to power fleets of vehicles) and it doesn't grow on trees. Practically, it is not a power source, it is a means of storing power. Using grid power to make hydrogen to power a vehicle is less efficient, more expensive, heavier and inferior in just about every conceivable other way to using that power to charge a battery. Making hydrogen from natural gas is even worse from a global warming perspective.
The only advantage I can think of over a plug-in hybrid, is that you can fill a hydrogen tank faster than you can charge a battery, but with a hybrid with decent all-electric range, most trips will be all electric and the gasoline engine/generator will work for longer trips without a need to wait while the battery charges. Also, if electrically powered vehicles become mainstream, it would make sense to have battery swap stations, where leased batteries that you had discharged could be swapped for fully charged batteries. If properly automated, this would probably be faster than filling a gas tank, let alone a hydrogen tank.