Hydrogen, hydrogen everywhere...

market-robots.com ^ | 20 March 2015 Last updated at 10:21 ET | Matthew Wall

[ckilmer]

With a range of about 300-400 miles (480-640km) and a tank that can be filled in a matter of minutes, Toyota is hoping FCEVs can give conventional electric vehicles (EVs) a run for their money.

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This is impressive but they don't talk about cost so these are likely in the same price range as the Tesla without having its good looks.

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"In Japan we have a three-year waiting list for the car - demand is outstripping supply," says Toyota's Nik Pearson.

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Judging by the demand for the hydrogen cars in Japan--these cars are going to steadily gain traction and as they do so--their price points will come down.

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Earlier this year, Toyota announced that it would share nearly 6,000 of its hydrogen fuel cell patents in a bid to boost FCEV development.

The patent portfolio covers fuel cell stacks, high-pressure hydrogen tanks, software control systems and the industrial processes involved in generating and supplying the gas

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Looks like they are copying Tesla's offer to open up their patents.

[jmacusa]

Hydrogen also goes BOOM!!! if you don’t handle it carefully. Or if you decide to do other things with it. As to filling up cars with it and using it as fuel. I dunno. The Hindenburg comes to mind.

[4rcane]

no thanks, electric car is better than hydrogen car

[cripplecreek]

Hydrogen is an excellent energy source but fossil fuels are much more user friendly.

[KarlInOhio]

At least the article doesn't pretend that there are some miracle hydrogen wells out there from which you can get hydrogen without supplying a lot of energy splitting it apart from the molecules containing it.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Non-engineers know that hydrogen is the way to go.

Why are engineers so stupid?

[Jonty30]

Hydrogen cars are safe. They are designed so that, in the event of a tank puncture, the hydrogen will evaporate before it can do anything.

Also, it wasn’t the hydrogen that was the problem with the Hindenburg. It was the flammable paint they used on the dirigibles.

http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/myths

[Bob]

"We're a commercial business - we're not going to build a hydrogen network just for the good of mankind. So we're going to need subsidy from the government."

Of course you'll need a subsidy -- Yeah, I remember my grandfather telling me about all the government subsidies that went into building gas stations when gasoline-powered cars were just coming to market. NOT!!

[kosciusko51]

If this makes headway, the IPCC will highlight the dangers of too much man-made water vapor in the atmosphere, the EPA will declare water vapor as a pollutant, and SCOTUS will agree.

[SunkenCiv]

In the era of global warming, it would seem to be the perfect fuel. So why aren't we all driving round in hydrogen-powered cars, moving our goods in hydrogen-powered lorries, and heating our homes and offices with this wonder element?

Because A) there's no such thing as global warming, B) there's no such thing as fossil fuels, and C) hydrogen isn't a fuel, it's a storage system that has to be manufactured, meaning that the usual fuels (coal, methane, oil) would have to be burned to produce the electricity sufficient to make enough hydrogen fuel to run our vehicles.

This is the last time these facts will be repeated. From now on, idiots who bring up those lame-assed Global Warming Hoax talking points will be beaten with steel pipes. Thank you.

[stormhill]

There's more hydrogen in a gallon of gasoline, one of the safest and most efficient fuels available today, than in a gallon of...hydrogen! The production of hydrogen gas is expensive, dangerous and polluting.

[kosciusko51]

Engineers have been using hydrogen for years. What do you think was used in the upper stages of the Saturn V?

The issue is making it safe for morons in cars to use.

[PieterCasparzen]

[jmacusa]

Yup. And everyone is concerned at the rear of the vehicle. You still have to have lubricating oil for the engine and that means petroleum products. And all that plastic used in the vehicles. More petroleum based products.

[kosciusko51]

Hydrogen is a fuel, which has been used for decades in rockets.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Graphene-based Fuel Cell Membrane Could Extract Hydrogen Directly from Air
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3236299/posts

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Then why the Hell aren't you making your fortune on hydrogen, young man?

If it can compete with fossil fuels on even ground, more power to you.

If it requires subsidies for you to build your facilities, then go pound sand.

[cripplecreek]

The real trick is to produce a car that can be filled with distilled water, extract the hydrogen and use it as needed.

[jmacusa]

And the hydrogen blew up. The United States which pretty much had the monopoly on the less flammable helium was prohibiting sales of it to Nazi Germany because of it’s treatment of German Jews. I don’t want a hydrogen car. I’ll stick with gasoline. And besides you still need lubricating oil under the hood and that means petroleum.

[stboz]

Hydrogen also goes BOOM!!!

Yep, and when it burns, it's damn near invisible. That's a real wake-up call if you should run into the flame.