Ah, but water is NOT the only emissions. Whenever you have combustion, you will have oxides of nitrogen, which are responsible for acid rain and smog.

 

But just like the "coming soon" breakthroughs in batteries and charging, they will soon have ways to capture the NOx.

 

I've always thought of hydrogen as having two uses.
1) Good for trucking, long-route buses, and people who live in the middle of nowhere.
2) Great for automakers who want to appear as though they're doing something while holding off on doing anything.

 

Hydrogen will be sold at truck stops ... and GM has a set of hydrogen generators they are selling which can be used to recharge EVs.

The future’s coming.

A lot of the arguments I hear lately sound like the gas-lamp business fighting with Edison and Swan over electrically powered street lamps... or for that matter Edison fighting Westinghouse over DC vs AC.

 

Hydrogen will be sold at truck stops ... and GM has a set of hydrogen generators they are selling which can be used to recharge EVs.

The future’s coming.

A lot of the arguments I hear lately sound like the gas-lamp business fighting with Edison and Swan over electrically powered street lamps... or for that matter Edison fighting Westinghouse over DC vs AC.

Yes, there is a boom in the hydrogen generator market, especially for industrial uses like forklifts and other heavy equipment.

 

First off, as long as EVs have the lack of charging stations and time involved charging, ICE won't be replaced anytime soon, regardless of Stellantis' plan. I'm all for clean technology, but we aren't there yet for this to go really mainstream. We're in it's infancy right now. When steam was replaced, it wasn't because it was cleaner, it was, but the real reason was it was much much cheaper. Less complicated, less fuel cost, and a biggie, less manpower required. Until a car can charge very quickly and offer a substantial savings, most people that work won't buy in great numbers. There's simply no reason, not at this time, YET.

 

There are about 1.3M EVs in the US, and about 143,000 charging stations. It's not a lack of charging stations, it's placement. And that is changing rapidly. Over 150k new EVs are selling each year, and that's increasing rapidly. It's not in its infancy, the technology is advanced. Rapid charging is a reality, as fast as 20 minutes in many cases. That's a rest plaza stop to pee and grab a snack. What is needed, and is happening, is evolution of battery technology and range. The rest really is settled, as far as the motor(s) and control.

 

Let’s not forget, most people live in a “charging station”. And they park their cars at them while they sleep

 

I am. I just read a nightmare of a trip a person took from NO to Chicago, with an all electric car. It was not fun or pretty.

 

And for every bad story there are several good ones. As much as I don’t care for the cars, I admire some of the thought that’s went into Tesla.
I read a blog from a guy that towed a 27’ Airstream from London Ontario to Colorado Springs in a little over two days. He’d drive about 1.5 hours and charge a bit then repeat. He covered the same distance as he would have with a gas tow rig, but the more relaxed driving schedule worked nice for him.
The Tesla’s integration with the charging network is interesting. Since the car knows when it is going to charge, it can regulate the battery temp as it approaches the charging station to reduce charging time.

 

The main problem with hydrogen as a fuel for an ice engine is the same problem as batteries for an electric motor. The energy density sucks. I can tow my boat over 500 miles on one tank of fuel thanks to the energy density of hydrocarbon fuels. I think running an engine on hydrogen is cool and should be explored but storing enough of it on a vehicle will be a challenge.

 

From the article:

Unlike the hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain used in the Toyota Mirai, in which hydrogen is used to generate electricity, this prototype engine simply burns hydrogen in place of gasoline, leaving water as the only emissions.

Based on the 5.0-liter V-8 used in the Lexus RC F, the hydrogen engine makes 449 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque, according to Yamaha. That's not far off the conventional gasoline-fueled version's 472 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque.

Full article here:

Toyota and Yamaha test V-8 that runs on hydrogen (motorauthority.com)

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/m/24de0a4c-ae7c-3442-8ca0-5588d36df3aa/honda-to-build-hydrogen-fuel.html

 

FWIW, Cummins has a small lineup of hydrogen engines based on its diesels. They also see a place for both ICE-H and fuel cells. However, they're looking at trucks. I don't really see hydrogen internal combustion cars as something that will become mainstream, but surprise me.