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However, hydrogen fuel cell cars have another number of problems: http://ssj3gohan.tweakblogs.net/blog/11470/why-fuel-cell-cars-dont-work-part-1 http://ssj3goha

by skrause 11y ago

However, hydrogen fuel cell cars have another number of problems: http://ssj3gohan.tweakblogs.net/blog/11470/why-fuel-cell-cars-dont-work-part-1 http://ssj3gohan.tweakblogs.net/blog/11470/why-fuel-cell-car...

TheSpiceIsLife 11y ago
The limitations of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are grossly underestimated by many (layfolk) who espouse the technology. Storing hydrogen is difficult, it will leak out of steel and embrittle the steel. The biggest drawback, as it stands today, and quoted from the article you linked is this: "You won't even go 100 miles on current tech hydrogen tanks that are still safe to carry around in a car." However, some of the drawbacks could very well be the reasons hydrogen wins out. Again, quoted from the article you linked: "Even though a HFC-powered car is essentially an electric car, you get none of the benefits like filling it up with your own power source, using it as a smart grid buffer, regenerating energy during braking, etc." Those look like good ways to maintain the something similar to the present distribution change. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. People will argue over which is the better technology, but that isn't necessarily going to be the deciding factor.
- yc1010 11y ago
  I don't get the "smart grid" buffer argument why would anyonce cycle their car battery (and hence reducing its lifespan) for little to no financial gain
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - ZeroGravitas 11y ago
    You don't need to cycle to help the grid, just temporarily stopping charging for short periods and/or delaying overnight charging to off-peak times helps enormously. And you don't do it for free, the org operating the charger can get electricity cheaper if it agrees to modulate load to match demand.
  - aianus 11y ago
    > little to no financial gain Electricity here in Ontario costs twice as much during the day as it does at night (US$0.12 vs US$0.06 per kwh). If you cycle most of a Tesla battery every day that's ~$120 a month in electricity savings. Not sure if that offsets the battery lifespan costs, but it's not nothing.

by skrause 11y ago

TheSpiceIsLife 11y ago

The limitations of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are grossly underestimated by many (layfolk) who espouse the technology. Storing hydrogen is difficult, it will leak out of steel and embrittle the steel. The biggest drawback, as it stands today, and quoted from the article you linked is this: "You won't even go 100 miles on current tech hydrogen tanks that are still safe to carry around in a car." However, some of the drawbacks could very well be the reasons hydrogen wins out. Again, quoted from the article you linked: "Even though a HFC-powered car is essentially an electric car, you get none of the benefits like filling it up with your own power source, using it as a smart grid buffer, regenerating energy during braking, etc." Those look like good ways to maintain the something similar to the present distribution change. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. People will argue over which is the better technology, but that isn't necessarily going to be the deciding factor.

yc1010 11y ago
I don't get the "smart grid" buffer argument why would anyonce cycle their car battery (and hence reducing its lifespan) for little to no financial gain
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- ZeroGravitas 11y ago
  You don't need to cycle to help the grid, just temporarily stopping charging for short periods and/or delaying overnight charging to off-peak times helps enormously. And you don't do it for free, the org operating the charger can get electricity cheaper if it agrees to modulate load to match demand.
- aianus 11y ago
  > little to no financial gain Electricity here in Ontario costs twice as much during the day as it does at night (US$0.12 vs US$0.06 per kwh). If you cycle most of a Tesla battery every day that's ~$120 a month in electricity savings. Not sure if that offsets the battery lifespan costs, but it's not nothing.