USA prices:
Gasoline: $3.50/gal - utilized at 25-35% efficiency
Hydrogen gallon equivalent: $6 to $12 - utilized at 40-60% efficiency, then subject to 10-20% loss when turned into motion
Electricity gallon equivalent: $1 to $2 - utilized at 80-95% efficiency
Literally electricity made from fossil fuels is cheaper to put in an all electric car because of how efficient an electric car is.
The gas engine sucks and so does the fuel cell, the hydrogen powered ICE is even worse.
Kudos for being honest!
Here's what owning a hydrogen car is like per
mirai reddit:
View attachment 358921
Can't help but cackle reading this..
Because petroleum is so widespread a fuel in most living memory, many forget that it took 2 world wars and 50 years to build the petroleum infrastructure, with a lot of BAD and unethical choices along the way. We built our electrical infrastructure on the back of this and in tandem with it. So, we already have an electrical infrastructure globally, with some, but not huge, variance in quality in all but the more remote parts of the world.
Thus, when people talk about hydrogen as a literal fuel, regardless of internal combustion or fuel cell, hybrid or pure electric with fuel cells, I always return to the infrastructure argument. How you gunna make the hydrogen? Who's gunna build the plant and distribution network? Who's going to standardise the safety protocols? How long is all this going to take. The petroleum ere took 50 years for a global population of just under a billion and a smaller gap between rich and "developing." Bigger population, more infrastructure, more time.
Even the developing world has access to some electricity infrastructure. Even if they're relying on stolen or charity funded solar panels. Bicycles are relatively easy to turn into an EV. (They're even easier to just use as is and are 5x more energy efficient than walking the same distance, but physical energy savings, even on a bicycle, are important, too, where food is costly.)
EVs have rolled out almost by stealth. Everywhere you look, hydrogen cars are "starving." I've seen one news report where a Sydney security firm chose hydrogen cars at great cost, then 2 years later, relocated their premises to a property with on site parking and switched to EVs. Again at huge cost, but a cost that would pay dividends in 2 years. Their initial hydrogen choice they admitted was a fear of fuel source and range that was totally misplaced.
One story, true, but really, you can charge an e car off a power socket if you're patient enough (and kept the "funny extension cord in the boot.") That's not an option with hydrogen. So many people are learning this the hard way.
Diesel is the ethical transition option if range is a genuine issue, although it takes common rail engines to not be spewing tons of particulates across the city. The missus and I went diesel 14 years ago (her car, and I sold my last car, a diesel van, in 2016) because Australia had a commercial biodiesel program at the time. Only long haul trucks get easy access to bio these days. At least in Melbourne.
