That's the question Toyota is asking, announcing plans to release such a thing in that year for that price. That's more than twice as expensive as the company's current eco-chic offering, the
Prius, but for greenies the advantages here are considerable: zero carbon emissions and a renewable fuel source. Toyota has been showing off its hydrogen-powered FCHV (pictured above) for quite some time now, but the initial model to hit dealers will instead be a sedan (presumably a luxury one at that price point) that would have a range comparable to gasoline models. Toyota hopes to actually make a profit on the car thanks to ever-decreasing fuel cell costs, a goal that the company did not achieve when the Prius initially hit the road and was sold at a loss. Of course, if the hydrogen distribution system in the US doesn't improve over the next five years then this thing will surely be a loser too.
posted May 9th 2010 12:04PM
No
@SaggyBalls
+1
No.
@SaggyBalls Maybe if it was a Ford.
Maybe.
@SaggyBalls Nope.
@SaggyBalls
Depends on how much hydrogen is.
@SaggyBalls Not if I could get a gas powered car for cheaper.
@SaggyBalls
Helllll no! y would I pay 50k for a sissy car like that?
@SaggyBalls
No, most hydrogen comes from hydrocarbons reformations (the process of spliting H2 from carbons) and thus it is almost never emissions free.
@SaggyBalls Since the electricity used to split the Hydrogen from the Oxygen comes from fossil fuel power stations, it seems like they have missed something there......
@SaggyBalls
No, I'll be spending my 50k on the iPad 4G.
@SaggyBalls - Not just "no", HELL NO!!
AC plug-in powered (using solar or wind to charge) FTWs!!
@SaggyBalls Hell no. But I have a feeling some time down the road we'll be forced to when dinojuice runs out. But I think I'll be dead for some time already.
@SaggyBalls
Jesus, I got a ton of replies, none of which are actually replies.
@SaggyBalls
NO....WAY
@SaggyBalls
+1 NO
when you comparing
*** gas saved v.s. high cost of maintenance ***
you are actually not saving at all!
@SaggyBalls
Why not, the way inflation is going that should be like $14.95! Hydrogen powered cars for stocking stuffers :)
@SaggyBalls
YES!
@SaggyBalls Hate being a copycat but one word says it all.
.
.
.
No.
@SaggyBalls is that even going to be a question or choice in 2015?
@Failbait
Just let me know when you're ready to make the purchace. I'll definitely sell one for you for 50K$. And actually if you place your order today, I'll give you another iPad 4G for free when the time comes!!
@Tohe
Remind me what elements Water is made of.
(Hint: There's a clue in it's scientific name, H2O)
@SaggyBalls
Hell No x Infinity
Over priced and probably still gasoline dependent right? Did you know the first cars were hydrogen based and then gasoline was changed to a standard because they could make money off it? Go do some research. They also killed off the electric vehicle some time back in the 90s because they couldn't make money off it at the time. Some good movies to watch:
- Who killed the Electric Car
- Revenge of the Electric Car
Do some research on those who tried to make cars that ran on water who were mysteriously killed. It's all there for everyone to read, just educate yourself.
@Alex R
Hydrogen can be produced from town main sources:
A) Water - using an energy intensive process called electrolysis (argubly generating even more pollution at the power plant than it would take to just fill up the battery of an electric car).
B) Hydrocarbons - by reforming carbons, mainly natural gas.
The cheapest way and the means by which most hydrogen is made is from the reformation of hydrocarbons (fossil fuels). One of the by products of the reformation is CO2.
Why do you think Oil companies are pushing for H2? (hint: they want to make money and produce hydrogen as cheap as possible).
@David Bailey "Since the electricity used to split the Hydrogen from the Oxygen comes from fossil fuel power stations, it seems like they have missed something there......"
Will ... at the beginning, yes the electricity will come from fossil fuel, but maybe 5 years latter ... renewable energy tech is there to split Hydrogen and Oxygen, the advantage of this is to separate the solution from the car, and make the hydrogen as medium to store electricity (think battery), this way, we don't have to change our cars every time a more efficient way to generate electricity comes.
It may even be more practical this way , for example you can't attach giant wind turbine to each car, but it easy to build a large grid of them in a power plant, use that power to split Hydrogen and Oxygen, and use that hydrogen to power your car.
Now, back to the original question, would i buy hydrogen-power car in 2015 for $50K, .... maybe ... who know what will happen in 5 years from now.
@SaggyBalls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg
@Tohe Agreed. The answer to the article question, - heyyyllll no.
@SaggyBalls
ayo why i keep gettin downranked!? nobody gonna be this ugly p.o.s in my hood thats fo sho! even a prius is better lookin than that.. get yo self a mustang or some nice whip and bag u some shawties!!!
@kirstpo
aint nobody in the hood drivin one of these.. but HYDRO is nothing new in the hood.. we been rollin that dro for a while =0 !!!
get yo self a damn mustang... 30 mpg my dudes! isnt gasoline the earths stored hydrocarbs that we are releasing back into the atmosphere.. i hate these eco nuts.. ask spain how that eco economy is looking with its 20% unemplyment..
@David Bailey
you must not have heard of wind farms, solar energy or nuclear power(which is somewhat clean).
what tock have you been living under for the past couple of years
@David Bailey
you must not have heard of wind farms, solar energy or nuclear power(which is somewhat clean).
what rock have you been living under for the past couple of years
@SaggyBalls
what happens if you live in a really cold environment and the water freezes what happens next?
@Tohe
HYDROLYSIS OF WATER
Unless you're 70 and expecting to die tomorrow, you're probably going to see that day.
I hate being the party pooper, however David Bailey is correct. The EROEI for hydrogen is not worth it. Of all green technologies, I think only corn ethanol beats hydgrogen at being more wasteful that valueable.
We need green tech, but magic hydrogen ain't gonna be it!
Oh, and Plazmic Flame, you impress me as an idiot.
@David Bailey Not if the splitting is happening in france
@David Bailey
It seems you know very little about what the chemical process of a fuel cell is. Fuel cell does not require any process from a traditional power plant. Go read up before you comment please.
@SaggyBalls
Only hatchback coupes
@David Bailey actually u can use electricity to separate Hydrogen from Oxygen, This could be implemented with electric cars. its called electrolysis if u want to look it up. U probably did an experiment in high school in your chemistry class with it.
@SaggyBalls
Screw Hydrogen, I'm waiting for that Nuclear powered Hummer. True zero emissions, all you have to deal with is that pesky "radioactive isotopes" those hippies keep crying about.
@SaggyBalls
didnt toyota have some break problems recently yo???? if u in the hood u gotta have good breaks. besides its not like i wanna be driving some hydrogen bomb without breaks wtf.. stop downranking me you turds! mike vick in the houssse lol
@darkmax Maybe you need to realize that Hydrogen doesn't simply come from the ground. It is an energy storage medium; and the most common method of production, electrolysis of water, uses energy that originates most often from coal burning power plants.
Hydrogen is a hugely inefficient method of power storage. Fully electric is the future, not any of this garbage.
@ engadget
2015>2012
2012 is the end of the world so there is no 2015, proly year 3 of the new earth but 2015? really?
@SaggyBalls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Buleu-dVw#t=2m08
@Tohe
Maybe they should start creating hydrogen through electrolysis of water from solar power.
@Plazmic Flame
what an odd tone you take. The question is if you wil buy this car. We don't need to go educate ourselves on why previous cars were not made - here is a car no matter who did what years ago. Educate ourselves? How about getting off your soapbox when your point isn't even applicable. You emphatically say no to the car because of previous attempts to kill the tech off? You're no better than those you spoke of.
@SaggyBalls - Especially not if it's a freaking Toyota! They can't even program their gas pedals right and I'm supposed to trust them to NOT make the hydrogen explode? lol yeah, ok.
@Tohe Well you can't really expect oil company shareholders to just drop the ball on their profit... Like everything else, the crap is still in there, just hidden from public eyes...
@SaggyBalls No, but give me an electric SUV with a nuclear reactor for $49.999 and I'll take it.
@David Bailey That may be right now, but this is an incredibly important step towards our future for personal vehicles. Green energy can be used to power the splitting of H20, not to mention that cheaper catalysts are found every day to make that split need less energy.