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> I would really like to know more about why Hydrogen vehicles did not take off as much as electric. Lots of reasons. So, here's some off the top of my head.
by cogman10 3y ago
> I would really like to know more about why Hydrogen vehicles did not take off as much as electric.
Lots of reasons. So, here's some off the top of my head.
* Infrastructure - There's no hydrogen distribution system in place. Further, hydrogen is trickier to distribute/store. It's not like gas where you can just have a big empty metal drum that you fill and discharge. Consider, for example, that as gases expand they cool down and as they compress they heat up (Boyle's law). Now consider the danger of refilling, go too fast (with any sort of oxygen present) and you run the real risk of explosion. Without oxygen, you still have to deal with the heat generated. On the flip side, pulling hydrogen out of a tanker will cause the tanker and the stored hydrogen to freeze, forcing you to wait for a defrost if you go too fast.
* Hydrogen is not green. I know everyone THINKS that hydrogen production would primarily come from electrolysis, but that's not how commercial hydrogen is produced [1]. Instead, hydrogen primarily comes from fossil fuels (methane, natural gas).
* Related to the first point, charging a hydrogen vehicle would require all the same headaches the current EV connectors have gone through. You can't just specify a diameter and go from there. You must create a seal to prevent hydrogen from leaking from the pump. It's doable, but also dangerous if you get it wrong. Hydrogen is far more flammable than gas which is really super risky if someone is smoking while recharging.
* Electricity is already distributed. The fact that you are writing here on hacker news means you have a source of electricity that could potentially power your car. The EV charge station distribution is largely just a factor of setting up stations. Further, for relatively little money existing gas stations can easily be converted to support EVs. That's not so with Hydrogen. Another reason for the popularity of EVs is home charging is really fantastic. If you own a home and install a charger you'll almost never need any public fueling infrastructure. (also, with an EV charger refueling at home from 0 to 100 takes about 7 hours. Refueling for daily road trips generally takes more along the lines of 1 hour. Most cars are idle for more than an hour).
[1] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydrogen/production-of-hydrogen.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydrogen/production-of-h...
- tuatoru 3y agoThe risk of explosion cannot be overemphasized. Methane will ignite when in concentrations of 4% - 17% in air, but with hydrogen the range is 4% to 75%. Hydrogen also has a higher flame speed than methane. (Boom!, not Whoosh!) Given hydrogen's propensity to escape from containers these properties make it unsuitable for domestic uses.
- theshrike79 3y ago> You can't just specify a diameter and go from there. You must create a seal to prevent hydrogen from leaking from the pump. It's doable, but also dangerous if you get it wrong. Imagine the amount of people who mess up refueling an ICE vehicle. Now extrapolate that to H2 refuelling where we're dealing with a highly flammable gas in extremely high pressures. > Electricity is already distributed. The fact that you are writing here on hacker news means you have a source of electricity that could potentially power your car. Exactly. The BEV doubters seem to think that everyone in the world drives 600 miles without stopping for over 30 seconds every single day. When in fact the average person could charge from a normal power outlet overnight all they need for the next day and ever a little surplus. Effectively keeping the battery full at all times, making that weekend road trip a breeze.
- _hypx 3y agoThousands of people refuel with hydrogen regularly. There is no evidence of real danger. The problem isn't that you can't live with a BEV, it's that you don't have to. People are "fighting the last war." There is a way of making an EV that has zero compromises compared to ICE cars. BEVs in that context are coming obsolete or perhaps niche cars.
- theshrike79 3y agoThousands of enthusiastic early adopters. Could Grandma Jones from two houses over, who just turned 80 do it?
- _hypx 3y agoYes, in fact the early adopters are just normal people.