4 ms·

I'm not sure how safe a hydrogen car is...any insight?

pfdietz 2y ago
It's certainly not safe from buyer's remorse. One sees videos of customers who rate a Mirai purchase as the worst purchase they have ever made. Also, Toyota is being sued. Basically, physical safety is a nonissue if the purchase makes no sense anyway.
anenefan 2y ago
I don't know if the original article was complete or just the little text I saw was because of the lousy render due to my older browser. Anyhow [1] reads a lot better as well as probably being an earlier article about the same - presently has 74 comments including at least one from a person who brought two for company vehicles. As for safe, I would say just as safe if not safer than the vehicles fitted to run on LPG or natural gas due to what I would presume would be an overkill of engineering and materials used, ensuing the lines don't leak even if the vehicle was involved in a minor fencer bender. I have worked with hydrogen on and off over a few years (mostly as gas to run a welding torch) and despite tales how it might just explode or catch fire if one looked at it the wrong way, it's actually pretty uneventful most of the time - it's just hard to see the flame ... and yes, being curious I've done things like igniting a big plastic bag filled with it to see what it does - meh. [1] https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1145539_this-new-toyota-includes-15-000-of-free-fuel-costs-as-little-as-17-000 https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1145539_this-new-toyota...
basementcat 2y ago
I drove one for several years and had no safety issues. Access to fuel is the critical issue and all my driving during that period was limited to areas between or within range of H2 fuel stations. The vehicle handled similar to an electric vehicle except with about a 5 minute "recharging" time.
- danans 2y ago
  > The vehicle handled similar to an electric vehicle except with about 5 minute "recharging". This is because from the perspective of just the drivetrain, it is an electric vehicle, battery and all (albeit a smaller one).
  - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
    Does the fuel cell charge a battery that then goes to the drive train or does the fuel cell’s electricity output go straight to the drive train?
    - basementcat 2y ago
      It charges a battery.
    - stephenr 2y ago
      It has a 1.2kWh battery that's listed as "drive battery", my understanding is that the fuel cell is just providing charge to the battery.
      - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
        Thanks. Different from those diesel turbine hybrid electric locomotives then.
Hamuko 2y ago
It's definitely not safe if you suffer from range anxiety. Good luck finding that H2 station.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > not safe if you suffer from range anxiety I'm increasingly convinced this is a generational thing. I typically run my car until close to empty unless I'm planning on leaving town. I've had houseguests, on the other hand, who start literally flipping out if the tank goes below a quarter full. (There is no practically conceivable case where running out of gas in town would constitute an emergency.)
  - diggan 2y ago
    > I'm increasingly convinced this is a generational thing Begs the question, what generation are you part of then? I'm millennial I guess (born early 90s), and I also try to keep my tank somewhat topped up in case I have to go somewhere quickly were I wouldn't have time to hunt down a gas-station to refill at on the way. I wouldn't flip out if it wasn't though, and plenty of times my tank been close to empty before taking my ass to a gas-station, just the general idea to keep the tank somewhat non-empty.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > what generation are you part of then? Millenial, too. The generations I observed this in are X to Boomer. What I'm getting at is the anxiety part of tank/range anxiety more than the behaviour. Like, if we're going to the supermarket (2 miles away), are on a time budget, the car has 50+ miles of gas in it, and there are multiple stations a mile away, filling up isn't a priority.
      - macintux 2y ago
        There are, however, reasons why allowing the tank to drop near empty is problematic completely independent of range anxiety. Cold weather can freeze condensation in the tank. A dirty tank can clog up the gas filter.

It's certainly not safe from buyer's remorse. One sees videos of customers who rate a Mirai purchase as the worst purchase they have ever made. Also, Toyota is being sued. Basically, physical safety is a nonissue if the purchase makes no sense anyway.

anenefan 2y ago

I don't know if the original article was complete or just the little text I saw was because of the lousy render due to my older browser. Anyhow [1] reads a lot better as well as probably being an earlier article about the same - presently has 74 comments including at least one from a person who brought two for company vehicles. As for safe, I would say just as safe if not safer than the vehicles fitted to run on LPG or natural gas due to what I would presume would be an overkill of engineering and materials used, ensuing the lines don't leak even if the vehicle was involved in a minor fencer bender. I have worked with hydrogen on and off over a few years (mostly as gas to run a welding torch) and despite tales how it might just explode or catch fire if one looked at it the wrong way, it's actually pretty uneventful most of the time - it's just hard to see the flame ... and yes, being curious I've done things like igniting a big plastic bag filled with it to see what it does - meh. [1] https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1145539_this-new-toyota-includes-15-000-of-free-fuel-costs-as-little-as-17-000 https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1145539_this-new-toyota...

basementcat 2y ago

I drove one for several years and had no safety issues. Access to fuel is the critical issue and all my driving during that period was limited to areas between or within range of H2 fuel stations. The vehicle handled similar to an electric vehicle except with about a 5 minute "recharging" time.

danans 2y ago
> The vehicle handled similar to an electric vehicle except with about 5 minute "recharging". This is because from the perspective of just the drivetrain, it is an electric vehicle, battery and all (albeit a smaller one).
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  Does the fuel cell charge a battery that then goes to the drive train or does the fuel cell’s electricity output go straight to the drive train?
  - basementcat 2y ago
    It charges a battery.
  - stephenr 2y ago
    It has a 1.2kWh battery that's listed as "drive battery", my understanding is that the fuel cell is just providing charge to the battery.
    - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
      Thanks. Different from those diesel turbine hybrid electric locomotives then.

Hamuko 2y ago

It's definitely not safe if you suffer from range anxiety. Good luck finding that H2 station.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> not safe if you suffer from range anxiety I'm increasingly convinced this is a generational thing. I typically run my car until close to empty unless I'm planning on leaving town. I've had houseguests, on the other hand, who start literally flipping out if the tank goes below a quarter full. (There is no practically conceivable case where running out of gas in town would constitute an emergency.)
- diggan 2y ago
  > I'm increasingly convinced this is a generational thing Begs the question, what generation are you part of then? I'm millennial I guess (born early 90s), and I also try to keep my tank somewhat topped up in case I have to go somewhere quickly were I wouldn't have time to hunt down a gas-station to refill at on the way. I wouldn't flip out if it wasn't though, and plenty of times my tank been close to empty before taking my ass to a gas-station, just the general idea to keep the tank somewhat non-empty.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > what generation are you part of then? Millenial, too. The generations I observed this in are X to Boomer. What I'm getting at is the anxiety part of tank/range anxiety more than the behaviour. Like, if we're going to the supermarket (2 miles away), are on a time budget, the car has 50+ miles of gas in it, and there are multiple stations a mile away, filling up isn't a priority.
    - macintux 2y ago
      There are, however, reasons why allowing the tank to drop near empty is problematic completely independent of range anxiety. Cold weather can freeze condensation in the tank. A dirty tank can clog up the gas filter.