Why are we trying to develop hydrogen cars?

Question

Hydrogen vehicles are not commercially viable and they won't be in our lifetimes. Some day, when the price of gasoline is $20 per gallon, hydrogen may be a competitive technology. In the meantime, plug-in hybrids with lithium-ion batteries are only a couple of years away from being a reality. A lithium-ion plug-in car with a home solar panel array would almost run free, from sunlight, forever. People driving less than 100 miles per day would never use gasoline. This is the technology that the government and industry should be spending billions to develop as soon as possible.

One last thought for us American SUV owners - what would you do if gasoline were $8 per gallon? Well, you should begin planning to do that because it will become a reality some day in the near future.

Answer 1

Hello from Mr. Nicko , Catwomen's hubby . Hydrogen vehicles is the gov. way of fooling the public into thinking their doing something for the planet . It's just one of the ideas them and the big three came up with to try to save their butt . Electric cars & trucks will be beat down & discredited for as long as the gov. can do it . I myself would not want to ride around in a hydrogen bomb , picture getting hit by a semi. For the  past 27 years I ' ve been working on a car that charges it ' s self , and applied the same theory to a unit for houses . With my designs they dont have to be plugged in , or use solar panels . With the break through of the lithium-ion battery , this has been a plus on my designs . The gov. is afraid of losing it ' s make beleive bank account , and send the country into full blown ression worst than the one we ' re already in . With my designs you would never have to worry about how much gasoline was , you would never have another electric bill , or worry about heat . Sound too good to be true , no its just too simple to do . I restore antique and classic cars for a living , unfortunetly you don ' t get rich doing this , unless youre the onwer of the car . I need funding to build the full scale prototypes . I have hundreds of drawings , blueprints with no funds for matierals . With my designs , true some jobs may be lost , but only to be created in differant areas . As far as the econmy  it would only grow . Becuase the big three would nolonger be in charge . I cant say to much about my designs due to panent rights . But arent you tired of spending so much just to live . Thank you for your time , please contact us if you would like to meet and discuss funding for the prototypes . Catwomen & Nicko , god bless !

Answer 2

We are developing hydrogen fuel cell cars because of the purified water that is created as a byproduct of using hydrogen and oxygen.  Plus, you said that hydrogen fuel cells won't be around in our lifetime...that is 100% incorrect.  Chevrolet has created a 2007 Equinox that is being "leased" to different specially selected people located in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and New York to test try each of these cars.  These cars are being given out for free in every aspect possible (such as hydrogen fuel, any mechanical problems, etc. are all free).  This is being done to make sure that when they come out with these cars in 2011, there will be as little bugs in them as possible.  

Also, what do you think that that electricity is made from that you would use for your car?  Coal and fossil fuels among other things.  This would still not solve our solution all of the way so there are many different options of AFVs (Alternate Fuel Vehicles) that are being created to please people with their own opinions of which fuel they should use.

In the long run, we are still making strides to become a more green country and planet...no matter how small they are.

Answer 3

There is a company in Los Angeles that will retrofit an existing internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen.

This would be worthwhile for the hundred million cars that are already on our roads in The United States.

Converting internal combustion engine vehicles to use hydrogen would be superior for the environment.to running them on fossil fuels.

With the improvements in battery technology I expect that we will see many more new electric vehicles.

I expect that for a new vehicle that ir makes more sende to manufacture an electric vehicle rather than a hydrogen powered vehicle.

I see hydrogen as a very good retrofit for existing internal combustion engine vehicles.

The hydrogen should be produced by electrolysis of water using electricity produced by renewable sources such as wind power,  not natural gas. If you use natural gas to produce th hydrogen you might as well retrofit the internal combustion engine to run on natural gas.

The electricity for electrolysis or for recharging an electric car should not be produced by burning a fossil fuel such as coal or natural gas. That merely shifts the pollution from one place to another and does nothing for the environment.

Answer 4

Can you predict the future?  For all you know someone could find a way to cleanly, efficiently, and cheaply produce H2 tomorrow.  Then your question becomes void no?  The point is the concept is ideal, and all we need is the motivation, brains, and luck.

Answer 5

"Not commercially viable and won't be in our lifetimes."

You must be much older than I am or very unhealthy.  I am 46 and expect to see Hydrogen technology in use long before I die.

1. There are currently H2 powered vehicles on the market.  The ENV("envy") motorcycle is one example. (see link 1)

2. The US Dept of Energy is spearheading a huge multigovernmental project regarding the viability of H2 replacing fossil fuels. (see link 2)

Energy is "stored" in batteries, they do not "create" energy, therefore you still need a source of that energy for the batteries to store, either electricity, or possibly H2 in fuel cells.  Batteries will become an important method of storing energy, but not of providing it.

Answer 6

If I drive to work in the morning and come home in the evening, how do I charge my car in the dark with solar. I would need to now install a huge battery bank and a huge solar array so I could store the energy. The system will cost more than the car and any fuel you save for 10 years.

Answer 7

It's not an either-or scenario.  We can develop plug-in hybrids, electric cars, and hydrogen cars at the same time.

Theoretically if we could find a way to get hydrogen without producing CO2 emissions in the process, hydrogen powered cars could be nearly perfectly environmentally friendly.

While the same is true of an electric car recharged by renewable energy such as solar, it's not an easy prospect to get enough renewable energy to power both a house and recharge a car.

If we can develop both electric cars with renewable energy and hydrogen powered cars with a green source of hydrogen, that would be an ideal diversification of our power and transportation systems.

Answer 8

Hydrogen cars won't be a viable option until methods of producing it are green

So no more coal, oil, gas, or nuclear power.