Hydrogen vehicles are often cited as potential competitors to electric vehicles. How accurate is this and what’s better?
In any discussion of electric vehicles or transportation in general, it is not uncommon to say that the future clearly lies in hydrogen vehicles. Like electric cars, hydrogen cars do not produce harmful emissions on the road, but unlike electric cars, which take a significant amount of time to recharge, hydrogen cars draw fuel almost as fast as petrol and diesel cars. can be replenished. But how realistic are hydrogen cars and how do they compare to electric cars? Will everyone drive a hydrogen car in a few years? In principle, electric vehicles are relatively simple machines. Utility power is stored as chemical energy in batteries and then converted into electrical energy by the vehicle’s power system.
This electrical energy is used to power one or more motors that turn the wheels of the vehicle. In principle, electric vehicles are relatively simple machines. Utility power is stored as chemical energy in batteries and then converted into electrical energy by the vehicle’s power system. This electrical energy is used to power one or more motors that turn the wheels of the vehicle.
Questions like this typically lead to “it depends” style answers, but the point is:
Aside from the time it takes to charge the battery compared to the time it takes to fill up a hydrogen tank, electric cars are better than hydrogen cars. Consider some of the drawbacks that come with hydrogen cars.
• They are complex and expensive to manufacture. Rumor has it that hydrogen cars are more expensive to produce than they are to sell.
• Hydrogen is flammable and hazardous if not properly stored or handled.
• Hydrogen need to be enormously compressed for avenue use. This adds complexity and the hydrogen distribution network must be able to handle this high pressure gas.
• Hydrogen production on an industrial scale consumes large amounts of fossil fuels. Renewable processes exist, but they are more expensive and hydrogen is mainly produced using CO2-intensive processes.
Of course, any prediction can be wrong, but given the above, it’s hard to argue for mass adoption of hydrogen vehicles in the near future. The technology is very sophisticated, and the hydrogen cars that exist in the real world are comfortable and easy to drive, but there are major obstacles to hydrogen cars as a whole.
But that doesn’t mean hydrogen has no future in transportation. The shipping, rail, and freight industries are potential homes for hydrogen fuel cell technology. Electric vehicles are relatively slow to charge, require large amounts of natural resources for their batteries, and are not carbon-free when electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Electric vehicles have more viable prospects than EVs.
Can I buy a hydrogen car?
Yes. But remember you want to live near a hydrogen station (there are only 15 in the UK). He has only two hydrogen cars currently on sale. Hyundai Nexo and Toyota Mirai SUVs. These costs are around £50,000 and £69,000 respectively. Previous hydrogen cars (such as the Honda Clarity) have come and gone and have not been replaced. As mentioned earlier, hydrogen cars are great in theory, but the practical aspects of their deployment are complex. Others may look the other way, but it’s hard to argue that the only advantage hydrogen cars have over electric cars (faster refueling) outweighs the serious drawbacks they bring.
Additionally, hydrogen cars are actually electric cars, but electric cars with their own on-board power plants, so electric propulsion is definitely an advantage, as hydrogen cars will eventually use this form of propulsion. Last but not least, the fact that nearly every automaker in the world has invested in and is producing electric vehicles is only a handful of manufacturers that have ever offered a hydrogen model. , tells the story of what the automotive industry collectively thinks about the future of the automobile.
Of course, that could change dramatically in the future. There is discussion about using offshore tidal power plants to produce hydrogen from water. Powdered hydrogen has the potential to solve many of the problems currently being caused by hydrogen vehicles. Establish a CO2 neutral hydrogen production process. But there are a lot of ‘maybe’, ‘maybe’ and ‘in the future’. As it stands, it is the hydrogen itself that is holding back hydrogen vehicles.
By: Hafizh Nur Herdian
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