Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainDan
Putting the charge in a battery isn't the problem, that's easy enough. The challenge is in designing a battery big enough to hold the charge needed, without it being so heavy that it is using most of that charge to carry the battery around.
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First of all - keep in mind that Hydrogen Fuel cells do not deliver high currents so they are typically paired with a Li Ion battery. Usually 200 lbs for fuel cell applications vs. 400 lbs for a plug-in electric (such as the Volt). So from a difference in weight stand point we are talking about 200 Lbs minus the weight of the fuel cell and Hydrogen tank.
Data suggests that 78% of Americans drive less than 40 miles per day to and from work. That means that 78% of us will not need any gasoline. For the fraction of the 22% who a plug-in electric would still make sense (remember - plug-in electric vehicles are not for everyone or every application) they can still depend on the ICE to run the generator and burn a flex fuel including plain old gasoline. In both of these cases - the needed infrastructure to recharge and occasionally fuel the ICE - are 100% deployed today. ZERO investment needed to make this happen from an infrastructure point of view.
Conversely, hydrogen fuel cell deployment would require Billions of dollars of infrastructure investment and, by conservative estimates, take 10 - 15 years to complete. The DOT estimates that it will take until 2025.
Most importantly - the physics does not seem to work. You can simply drive further on the energy it takes to make hydrogen (independent of the power source), compress it to 5000 psi or 10,000 psi (depending on the design) and cool - if you charge a battery.
The "right" solution does not have to work for every single user - it simply needs to work for the vast majority. Batteries make more sense in my opinion.
Why hydrogen?