RE: Hydrogen cars are coming5 Jul 2023 21:02
Mjallan;
'Has anyone looked at this explanation as to why H cars may not be the solution.'
The presenters main criticism is storage. He explains that for a 300mls journey in a V8, it would need c450 ltrs of storage space for compressed H2 gas, and c300 ltrs of liquified Gas. Both, not practical in cars, but suitable if you have large machinery, such as a JCB earth mover. He suggests a conventional tank would only give 50ml of travel for a V8. I have explained in some detail in previous posts why car mfrs are keen on developing H ICE. Simple reason, profit. The majority of car mfrs profit is derived from franchised dealerships on new car sales, maintenance and spare parts. Maintenance on Electric powered motor cars is much simpler, and few spare part requirements, apart from suspension. An EV has no clutch or gearbox. A Tesla has driven 500,000mls with no spare parts fitted to motor. The future is not HICE but H fuel cells, and primarily for LCV, HGV, ships, trains, buses and commuter aircraft. At moment HFCV are too expensive for the vast majority of buyers because of the Fc price.The presenter mentioned HFC as an alternative to HICE, but main criticism is that they are boring. He is a petrol head, and need grunt. For an xtra few £s, he can have a 'grunt' fitted through the speakers. The HFC market is painfully slow since there are only a dozen H stations in UK, and a few more in USA, with Eu slightly better. There has to be a seed change in Govt thinking on GW, to incentive the infrastructure for H filling stations. Naturally, the H should be sourced by electrolysis using 'green' electricity. USA produces of 90% of H , with 95% from Steam Reformed Methane. This is C intensive and not the way forward, but obviously suits Big Oil.
I have maintained from early days with PHE that H is not the driving force for DMG, but sales emphasis should be placed on production of syngas and then electricity. H production is an 'add on' for specific customers.