Toyota’s hydrogen cars have made a bit of progress with 27,500 sales, but is the future of hydrogen cars really in doubt? With so many challenges, including a lack of infrastructure in key markets, it’s hard to say whether hydrogen cars can go mainstream. What do you think? Can they overcome these barriers?
It never had a shot here in America without anyone building the infrastructure for it. The only state with hydrogen refueling stations is California, and that’s mostly just SF and LA. You’ve got an alternative fuel car with limited refueling options. Doesn’t seem worth the hassle.
@Pat
We have a ton of CNG stations all over the place but those cars aren’t popular either. The real problem with compressed hydrogen fuel cells is the cost. Without subsidies, it is commercially more expensive than gasoline.
@Vitt
Yeah, Honda tried to sell the Civic CNG to the public but it was a flop. GM, Ford, and Mopar only sold CNG versions of their trucks and the Taurus/Lumina/Intrepid for government sales. CNG is popular with buses and garbage trucks though. Waste Management is all in on CNG for their greenwashing campaign.
@Pat
That’s because AC Transit in Oakland and OCTA/Foothill Transit/LA Metro in LA/OC wanted hydrogen to fuel their zero-emissions buses instead of having buses tied up for hours recharging them. A fuel cell bus refuels as quickly as a current diesel/natural gas bus. Cummins is about to test a hydrogen ICE version of their new X10 engine - buses and regional delivery trucks are the target market. The Ports of LA/Long Beach and Oakland are testing out hydrogen FCEV trucks. Hydrogen does have a future in public transit and trucking. BEVs are the zero-emissions path for passenger cars.
@Pat
Have you owned one?
Jaime said:
@Pat
Have you owned one?
No, but I know people who have and they got a Toyota or Lexus Hybrid after owning it.
Can hydrogen be made at home? Cause if water is your fuel, that’s some damn cheap fuel.
Flint said:
Can hydrogen be made at home? Cause if water is your fuel, that’s some damn cheap fuel.
It can be made at home, but the issue is storing it. You can’t see it, smell it, and it’s highly combustible.
@Sunny
Kinda like US political opinions amirite? Kidding but kinda not.
Flint said:
Can hydrogen be made at home? Cause if water is your fuel, that’s some damn cheap fuel.
It takes a lot of energy to split the water though. Only makes sense if you have access to plentiful renewable energy.
Hydrogen never had a chance. It’s more expensive to fill a tank than a gas car, and it can’t be bypassed by mass production.
Kellan said:
Hydrogen never had a chance. It’s more expensive to fill a tank than a gas car, and it can’t be bypassed by mass production.
Yeah, it’s like $20 a KG.
Kellan said:
Hydrogen never had a chance. It’s more expensive to fill a tank than a gas car, and it can’t be bypassed by mass production.
I don’t think compressed hydrogen will have much of a chance for commuter vehicles, but solid-state hydrogen will likely disrupt the market once it is more viable. Solid-state hydrogen will be easily sold everywhere, portable, and easy to recycle. Like fusion energy, it’s always around the corner. I do think hydrogen engine testing is worth it, though. We need to work out the bugs, as making hydrogen fuel from seawater via renewable sources (wind, solar, wave) will be huge when it’s more efficient.
@Vitt
Why use renewables to extract hydrogen from water, compress it, then decompress it to use in a fuel cell when you can just charge a battery? It’s mainly a question of efficiency.
Kellan said:
@Vitt
Why use renewables to extract hydrogen from water, compress it, then decompress it to use in a fuel cell when you can just charge a battery? It’s mainly a question of efficiency.
Seems like a bad faith comparison. Hydrogen is more akin to gasoline or diesel, and that’s why the environmental factors of producing hydrogen are a step forward from gasoline or diesel. How we use hydrogen past production is up for debate, though. It could run an engine outright, or be used the way you describe.
@Kellan
I understand the energy potential of hydrogen, and how it lacks the energy density of other fuels. If we were designing engines solely around energy density, everything would be nuclear-powered. It’s going to take time to get this right, but getting hydrogen working is a big leap forward for the environment. I personally believe that compressed hydrogen fuel cells are not the future, but they allow us to do real-world testing until solid-state cells are ready. Solid-state hydrogen cells will be sold anywhere and can even be shipped to your home or picked up at existing stations, like propane. Lithium isn’t the future—it’s an amazing stopgap until we figure out something else. Sodium-ion batteries are starting to show up, and they could replace lithium in home energy storage, dropping costs significantly. They might be the solution for storing electrical energy at large installations.
No.
I don’t know why they even considered this for the consumer market. Just focus on semis; the impact on carbon emissions would be significant.