• GenEcon@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Another problem to the already mentioned ones (expensive, expensive dedicated infrastructure needed) is the range. Hydrogen is not very energy dense. For example the Toyota Mirai has a range of 500 km (310 miles) and its a pretty big, fuel-efficient car and the fuel storage is as big as the vehicle allows it.

    So while you can refuel faster than electric, you need to do it more frequently and its less convenient.

      • spongebue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Just spitballing here, please pretend I’m some rando on the Internet and not some kind of expert.

        On its own, there’s not much wrong with it. It takes a little longer to fill than a normal gas dispenser, but not bad. But you’ll still need to put hydrogen fuel stations everywhere similar to gas stations now.

        Hydrogen’s biggest competitor is pure electric. I love my EV in part because I can charge at home. There’s just something really nice about waking up to a full battery every day, and realizing you haven’t been to a gas station in months (I have an ICE as well, but it’s not my daily driver). Having to go to a fueling station every week or so again would feel like a big step backward, especially if we need to create a from-scratch infrastructure for it. We already have power lines pretty much everywhere, and can generate power relatively easily, so much of the hard part is done.

        Going back to range: in theory this problem could be alleviated if the range were enough that one had to refuel less often, but going through all that trouble to be in a similar situation to what you’ve had, when a better alternative exists? Nah.

    • stealthnerd@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The XLE does 410 miles. Few electric vehicle can touch that and EV ranges decline over time so almost no EV that’s more than a couple years old could match it.