Japan automakers play catch-up in EV race - eviltoast
  • OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    So you’re saying that the major issues with storage and transportation of hydrogen have been resolved? Do you have a source? Everything that I’ve read today is that they still can’t store it without it evaporating at a pretty high rate.

    In an abstract sense, I understand that FCEVs WILL be better once infrastructure exists and the problems with transportation and evaporation are resolved. Ideally the hydrogen would be used as energy storage for renewable sources, though my understanding is that most hydrogen produced today is produced using oil and gas.

    The reality is that I’m going to need to replace my ICE in the next year or two, and there is not currently a FCEV available for me to replace it with or infrastructure for me to fuel it. My house gets good sun, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to power my small amount of driving with my own solar and a BEV

    It’s not really productive to say that people who support BEV over ICE are stuck in the past. What would you recommend people do? If your answer is “buy another ICE until hydrogen is a realistic option”, isn’t that MORE stuck in the past than someone advocating for BEVs?

    • Hypx@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      We have had hydrogen pipelines for decades, and large scale storage in the form of underground salt caverns. These things basically work the same as natural gas pipes and storage systems. The only real challenge was local storage, which has mostly ceased to be a problem with the rise of carbon fiber tanks. There are tens of thousands of FCEVs around the world, and rarely any issues with dealing with hydrogen storage.

      The main limiting factor is infrastructure, or rather lack thereof. But the difference here is that you think it is technically impossible or at very least difficult. I believe it is simply a matter of building it, which is pretty straightforward.

      BEVs also were impossible to buy for most people until around the mid-2010s. They went a century of near non-existence before then. FCEVs are simply going through a similar process. Sooner or later, they will be everywhere and BEVs will be abandoned afterwards.

      You can buy whatever you want right now. It’s not like anyone’s stopping you. The point is that BEVs are not the answer. They are just a transitional idea and won’t last.