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Well battery tech will be a roadblock for some time but deadlines as far out as these make it look like something is being accomplished but provide enough time
by Shivetya 11y ago
Well battery tech will be a roadblock for some time but deadlines as far out as these make it look like something is being accomplished but provide enough time to not actually be a deadline. Converting off peak electrical power into hydrogen is getting more and more viable and frankly, I don't mind storing and transporting hydrogen versus stuffing the planet with li-ion batteries replete with their hazards.
GM should be first out of the gate with an affordable 200 mile range EV by late 16 or early 17. It will be interesting if other manufacturers follow quickly or wait too see what the uptake is. Fuel cells will likely be the filler application to directly replace fossil fuel engines.
that twenty year gap should be sufficient to get all used cars off the road as the one issue not addressed by current rebates is that the poor rarely can take advantage of them. Currently they seem to only serve the well off who could buy into new tech without them. California is already taking steps to fix this, income limits and such, but the federal government needs to do similar. Direct it to average consumer priced cars and likely there would be wider acceptance
- pjc50 11y agoI don't mind storing and transporting hydrogen Spoken like someone who has never tried to store or transport hydrogen. It's much less convenient than li-ion and has its own hazards.
- Osmium 11y agoIsn't that the truth. Unless there's been a breakthrough in the last few years, I remember storing hydrogen being an absolute nightmare: and not because it can combust, but simply because it's so small. Minimising leaks and achieving high storage densities, especially over longer periods of time, is super hard and not least because the hydrogen diffusion can cause embrittlement of metals too.
- nickpsecurity 11y agoThink of all the people that light up smokes, etc at the gas station. Then, think about this with a fuel that's invisible when it's leaking. Guy that worked at a hydrogen plant made that point to me when talking about the safety precautions they took.
- angrybits 11y ago> the poor rarely can take advantage of them I'm pretty sure the solution to that is clean public transportation, no?
- thaumasiotes 11y agoCheap public transportation sounds like it'd be more applicable to the poor than clean transportation.
- marcosdumay 11y agoDon't even mind storing that hydrogen. You certainly haven't actually tried to use those hydrogen fuel cells for anything real, not even in a lab.