Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck

[tron67j]

I was looking at news article on the Glickenhaus build of a fuel cell vehicle. I have been a fan of fuel cells for years. Yes I understand the need to build out a fueling network, but the same has been happening with charge stations for EVs. But you won't have proprietary connection points and very long down times waiting for your vehicle. And when things like the current mess in Texas, CA rolling blackouts, and power loss that happens elsewhere, it makes me nervous to rely on such power. And it is certainly going to be a problem with material resourcing as the current need for batteries grows. I see the opportunity for another cartel-like opportunity for the main producers of things like lithium. But hydrogen, it is everywhere and only a matter of time until it becomes a energy neutral process to extract.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/glicke...000-mile-range-smokes-tesla-cybertruck-maybe/


Anyway, thought this was an interesting article, and I hope fuel cell technology continues to evolve and allows us to have vehicles that mirror the convenience we have today. I just don't want to sit in some rest stop waiting to a) find an open charger, and b) then wait longer to get a full charge.

 

[Randy Grant]

I was looking at news article on the Glickenhaus build of a fuel cell vehicle. I have been a fan of fuel cells for years. Yes I understand the need to build out a fueling network, but the same has been happening with charge stations for EVs. But you won't have proprietary connection points and very long down times waiting for your vehicle. And when things like the current mess in Texas, CA rolling blackouts, and power loss that happens elsewhere, it makes me nervous to rely on such power. And it is certainly going to be a problem with material resourcing as the current need for batteries grows. I see the opportunity for another cartel-like opportunity for the main producers of things like lithium. But hydrogen, it is everywhere and only a matter of time until it becomes a energy neutral process to extract.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/glicke...000-mile-range-smokes-tesla-cybertruck-maybe/


Anyway, thought this was an interesting article, and I hope fuel cell technology continues to evolve and allows us to have vehicles that mirror the convenience we have today. I just don't want to sit in some rest stop waiting to a) find an open charger, and b) then wait longer to get a full charge.

Hydrogen vehicles have been around for quite a while, but in fleet form. Like you said, there just isn't the infrastructure for it in the scale needed.

 

[chri5k]

This was the state of technology for a gasoline powered fuel cell 10 years ago. It seems if there was investment in it back then it could have be close or in production now. It produces far less carbon emissions because it is much more efficient at turning gasoline into energy. The beauty is that it would use the existing gasoline infrastructure. Infrastructure is always the achilles heal of green energy for vehicles be it electricity, hydrogen, etc. The gasoline infrastructure has been built up over the last 100+ years. Replacing that is not a trivial task.

EDIT - Forgot to put in link to source.

https://www.technologyreview.com/20...ers' fuel cell is,, gasoline, and natural gas.

 

[tron67j]

That is exactly the issue, infrastructure is critical. I believe that EVs are just a stop gap option until we find a better way to power our vehicles. There is just not the infrastructure in place to allow efficient travels by EV. It will take decades to reach a saturation point where anyone can charge a vehicle anytime no matter where they are driving. I hear the arguments about people only drive x miles from their house. But that can be misleading when that distance you want to drive is not towards a big city but instead you are off to the mountains. I do spend time looking online for charging stations near where I get off the highway for gas, so I can say I am often less than thrilled with options if I had to use one.

 

[Randy Grant]

Plug-in EV's aren't that practical either if you look at TEXAS and CALIFORNIA and sometimes the eastern seaboard, with power failures and blackouts/brownouts, and computer glitches. Then, if everyone has an EV, what will happen to the supply and demand chain and the price of electricity. Wind energy is great until the wind doesn't blow, or in areas where there isn't enough wind days to make it profitable. Solar power isn't always reliable either, and requires huge storage facilities, allowing that battery technology gets better. Hydro power is great until you run out of streamflow in the summer months, during drought, or if we keep tearing dams down. Looks like we need "MISTER FUSION" to come to the rescue.
But, lets face it, hybrid gas/diesel electric is the only thing close to reliable right now, until we run out of dead dinosaurs, that is. There just isn't any one answer for long term. Sorry Gretta.

Oh, forgot the disclaimer: Tongue in cheek, just so nobody gets their panties in a twist ;-), have a nice day.

 

[tron67j]

Ha! Mr. Fusion. Exactly!