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California fuel cell drivers line up for hours for a ration of the most abundant gas on the planet


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16 minutes ago, morgan20 said:

Incidentally, did Ford ever sell fuel cell vehicles in California? I didn’t think Ford got into that niche. 

 

Not for sale, but Ford IS working on it....article is from 2023 though and it is for a UK based project....but they have a finger in the pie so to speak...

 

https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/eur/en/articles/2023/ford-announces-three-year-hydrogen-fuel-cell-e-transit-trial

 

Quote

A low-volume test fleet of eight fuel cell Ford E-Transits will run for six-month periods over the three-year project to 2025. Test fleet data will provide insights into the total cost of owning and operating a large van, with increased range and operating hours to match its diesel-powered equivalent and without the need to charge.

The prototype Ford E-Transits will be fitted with a high-power fuel cell stack, in conjunction with significant hydrogen storage capability, optimised for safety, capacity, cost, and weight. An important project element will evaluate efficient and viable recycling for end-of-life components.

 

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A catchy headline, but H2 is not sold or distributed as a "gas." While Hydrogen is in fact the most abundant element in the universe it abhors being on its own and pairs with itself, hence "H2." H2 is cryogenically cooled to -253ºC/-423ºF and stored at about 150 psi, or about the same as propane. Hydrogen does not exist as a free gas naturally, it combines with other elements like Oxygen.

 

 

I don't want to be the rperez of FCEVs, but H2 production & transport, and fuel cell efficiency should continue to be developed to a practical state. IMHO, I think H2 fuel cells are a better strategy long term.  

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2 hours ago, Motorpsychology said:

 H2 production & transport, and fuel cell efficiency should continue to be developed to a practical state.

 

The big shots at Toyota are really into that, they're imagining a hydrogen society 

 

image.thumb.png.9219a23e01421ec949d13fd40a16837c.png

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3 hours ago, Motorpsychology said:


I don't want to be the rperez of FCEVs, but H2 production & transport, and fuel cell efficiency should continue to be developed to a practical state. IMHO, I think H2 fuel cells are a better strategy long term.  

Maybe someday an efficient method will be discovered to produce hydrogen. But today it requires a lot of energy (typically electricity) to produce it and there is no distribution system. 
 

It’s far more practical/efficient to use that electricity to charge batteries for EVs utilizing the massive electricity distribution system that already exists. I’m also more comfortable with a LI-ION battery in my garage compared to a little Hindenburg. 

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17 hours ago, Texasota said:

Maybe someday an efficient method will be discovered to produce hydrogen. But today it requires a lot of energy (typically electricity) to produce it and there is no distribution system. 
 

It’s far more practical/efficient to use that electricity to charge batteries for EVs utilizing the massive electricity distribution system that already exists. I’m also more comfortable with a LI-ION battery in my garage compared to a little Hindenburg. 

10-4, use what technology you have. Under the right (wrong) conditions Li-Ion batteries can spontaneously burn, and the same spark that befell the Hindenburg will also ignite your ICE vehicle. OK, or your FCEV, too. Off topic, but IIRC, the 'Berg was originally designed to use helium in its inner bags, but because the US largely controlled He exports, they filled the bags with H2 which proved to be quite permeable to the much smaller molecules and thus the whole fuselage was filling with colorless, odorless hydrogen and...boom.

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Hydrogen is common on Earth and in the Universe. Hydrogen is highly reactive, and is typically found bonded to some other element or elements as a compound. Typically bringing hydrogen to a gas, H2 requires an expenditure of energy. Hydrogen as it exists on Earth is not an energy source, but an energy storage medium. Similarly Batteries are not an energy source but a storage medium. Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas already exist in the Earth, mostly from fossil remains. Converting these to usable form is less energy intense compared to converting a source material to usable hydrogen gas.

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