Can hydrogen fuel cells replace EV batteries?

11 June 2022
Why are most of the electric cars powered by a battery? Is there a viable alternative?

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  • Anonymous

No physicist but using power to generate hydrogen to then generate power for a small battery pack seems like a detour with a lot of power loss compared to just charging a battery pack.

Only positive I can think of are faster refuelling and maybe using less exotic materials for battery production ?

  • Anonymous

Two major things NOT said in this article.
1 kg of hydrogen is more dense than batteries, but once you add the massive hydrogen cylinders, they are NOT.
Fuel cells NEED large batteries. They cannot deal with peak power of acceleration, and be interested to see top speeds. They are basically expensive range extenders.

  • Anonymous

The problem with hydrogen is that it has the smallest atoms out of all elements. It is diffcult to store since it penetrates other materials like iron.

  • Anonymous

Baron , 28 Jan 2024This is the only future. Oil will run out, rare earth minerals to make batteries will run out,... moreI am not that sure tjat oil will run out since bioguels can be produced out of plants. The European union bans ICE cars from 2035 and on but with the exceptions (which was proposed by Germany) that biofuels are allowed.

  • Zeke

Mick, 20 Feb 2024I can see a time where rare earths are not mined - Lithium is only a couple of steps up from h... moreAll the Lithium in the universe was formed during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. There are no other known synthesis pathways for Lithium, which includes stellar/supernova nucleosynthesis, and neutron star mergers.

  • Mick

Baron , 28 Jan 2024This is the only future. Oil will run out, rare earth minerals to make batteries will run out,... moreI can see a time where rare earths are not mined - Lithium is only a couple of steps up from hydrogen - but where they are made from other elements. yes it will take possibly a lot of energy but we may have that to..

  • Baron

Pink, 10 Jun 2023A lot of bullshit here. Red hydrogen is ommited, tben electricity production efficiency is omm... moreHydrogen is the only answer. Batteries are a short term fix because like oil the materials will literally run out.

  • Baron

This is the only future. Oil will run out, rare earth minerals to make batteries will run out, hydrogen will NEVER run out. As long as there is an ocean...

  • Ulfat ufo

Hello would my dreams?

  • UNKNOWN soldier

hypocrisy and the thirst and greed ...what are we waiting for we can make cars that we can drink from ....what are we waiting for..why why on eart isn't a country doing it wven if its a model same model same colour simple all the same but cheap and efficient even our health would improve...saad just sad thats why we the people should take back the power and decide ourselves the decisions yess with the internet we can take de isions and vote like they do....people we need to get together

CyberDude, 22 Apr 2023BURNING hydrogen in a combustion engine similarly to gasoline is the cheapest way to manufactu... moreCarbon dioxide is what all plants need to make oxygen, no less. Sorry, count yourself as one of the brainwashed.

Hydrogen engine/car burns oxygen from the atmosphere. Yes, you can suffocate in your garage even though the engine is not producing CO, NO, or other hazard gasses. Yet, a miniature hydrogen engine can charge the EV batteries at a slower but adequate rate. With a full charge and a full hydrogen tank the EV can go for 2k km without stopping to top off while living on occasional and usually short plug-ins.

  • Pink

A lot of bullshit here. Red hydrogen is ommited, tben electricity production efficiency is ommited, but hydrogen production efficiency is in. The grid losses for electricity amount to almost 30%, somehow here efficiency is 93%. Lots if crap.

  • CyberDude

BURNING hydrogen in a combustion engine similarly to gasoline is the cheapest way to manufacture carbondioxide-free vehicles.

  • dexterlemmer

h2, 06 Jan 2023Batteries are very expensive to produce. and lithium reserves are not many. With the advan... more> Batteries are very expensive to produce. and lithium reserves are not many. With the advancement of technology it would be more feasible to obtain hydrogen. produce and store in our homes :)
1. Electrolyzers are even more expensive than batteries. And the inefficiency (which cannot be improved much with better tech as far as we know) means you'll need far more electricity to produce it. Li is quite abundant, just like oil, demand will increase supply. Furthermore, Na is now coming to market as well. 2. H2 cannot be used with equipment meant for NG, thus everything in house will need to be replaced. (Also pipes to house will need to be replaced.) 3. We **need** H2 for industrial uses like green steel, green fertelizer, etc and possibly for efuels for ships/aircraft. We definitely shouldn't waste H2 on what batteries do better, i.e. home and road transport.

  • h2

Batteries are very expensive to produce.
and lithium reserves are not many.

With the advancement of technology it would be more feasible to obtain hydrogen.
produce and store in our homes :)

kek, 13 Jun 2022I feel we should be better off improving the current fossil fuel process in order to reduce CO... moreEverything is good about your ideas, but sadly, emissions control and fuel mileage are inversely related to each other. The improvements through implementation of electronic Fuel injection, cat cons, etc have been realised and there's nothing more to do.
Now, we're making the world cleaner by making exhausts heavier and reducing fuel mileage.
Plus, even gasoline fire is dangerous, its fire goes upto 2100* C, its so hot that water evaporates before touching its fire base. People have died this way.

EV's, granted are bad too, they'll most likely explode on a big impact.

Hydrogen even if flammable spreads so well in environment, so its safer.
This way hydrogen makes a lot more sense, but all this tech stuff does make it expensive, but what other big demerit is there?

" A tailpipe you can drink from! "
But don't you think it will be terribly tasteless due to lack of minerals and can make you sick?

Anyhow, on this topic, let me just say that the first thing to be encouraged in electric vehicles is 80% charging rule. Unless you want to ride long distance, you must always charge 80% only.

This will ensure almost 3 times more battery lifespan, and less loss of charge holding over time.
Multiple research papers have been presented on this.

  • AML

Replacing one expensive fuel for another even more expensive fuel you have to pay for is madness.

All that electricity being wasted to produce hydrogen can go straight into a BEV. Best of all, we can charge BEVs at home with solar panels, making that power, effectively free.

Thats my current situation. Why would I give that up?

  • Anonymous

How is that posbul

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