We were easy marks.

  • schmorp ( schmorpel@slrpnk.net ) 
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    3 years ago

    , and supply chains aren’t scaling anywhere near fast enough to put a 300-mile range EV in every driveway in time to slow climate change.

    And if they were scaling we would just accelerate climate change even more. New cars don’t slow climate change. Repair your old one, or take the bus, or use a bike.

  • Hypx ( Hypx@kbin.social ) 
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    3 years ago

    @stopthatgirl7 Perhaps it’s time that people accepted that Toyota was right: We want a diversity of electrified vehicles. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell cars all have their role to play right now. It should not be a monoculture of BEVs.

    • No one is stopping any country or company from producing fuel cell cars. If Toyota is right, where are the fuel cell corollas?

      I am not knocking fuel cell vehicles, I wish they were viable but after 20 years of R&D they still haven’t solved the H2 storage problems, and it is starting to look like it will never be practical for a vehicle the form factor of a car.

        • YMS ( YMS@kbin.social ) 
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          3 years ago

          Last year? The Mirai went on sale in 2014, the Nexo in 2018. Just nobody buys them because there are no fueling stations, and there shouldn’t be any for their horrible inefficiency anyway.

      • Hypx ( Hypx@kbin.social ) 
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        3 years ago

        Where were BEVs just 15 years ago? These things do not happen all at once. Most arguments against fuel cell cars are outdated and from people stuck in the past.

        • keeb420 ( keeb420@kbin.social ) 
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          3 years ago

          the biggest hindrance to hydrogen is the cost to build a hydrogen station vs out in ev chargers. why would anyone build a hydrogen station when they could install many ev chargers for the same price. maybe trucking and busses, like greyhound not metro or school, could be a usecase for hydrogen going forward.

            • keeb420 ( keeb420@kbin.social ) 
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              3 years ago

              Across all 111 planned new hydrogen fueling stations, an average hydrogen station has capacity of 1,240
              kg/day (median capacity of 1,500 kg/day) and requires approximately $1.9 million in capital (median
              capital cost of $1.9 million).

              https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/21002-hydrogen-fueling-station-cost.pdf

              Most commercial enterprises look to install level two charging stations, which run on 240-volt power and provide a compromise between power and cost. A level two electric vehicle charging station costs around $2,500 for a non public facing and $5,500 for a public facing dual-port station—it can charge two cars simultaneously in eight to 10 hours.

              https://futureenergy.com/ev-charging/how-much-do-ev-charging-stations-cost/

              As more drivers purchase plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), there is a growing need for a network of electric
              vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to provide power to those vehicles. PEV drivers will primarily charge
              their vehicles using residential EVSE, but there is also a need for non-residential EVSE in workplace, public,
              and fleet settings. This report provides information about the costs associated with purchasing, installing,
              and owning non-residential EVSE. Cost information is compiled from various studies around the country, as
              well as input from EVSE owners, manufacturers, installers, and utilities. The cost of a single port EVSE unit
              ranges from $300-$1,500 for Level 1, $400-$6,500 for Level 2, and $10,000-$40,000 for DC fast charging.
              Installation costs vary greatly from site to site with a ballpark cost range of $0-$3,000 for Level 1, $600-
              $12,700 for Level 2, and $4,000-$51,000 for DC fast charging.

              https://afdc.energy.gov/files/u/publication/evse_cost_report_2015.pdf

              or its cheaper to install ev chargers.

              • Hypx ( Hypx@kbin.social ) 
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                3 years ago

                More stations more greater economies of scale. At some point this will be no more expensive than a gas station. Also, you have a much greater capacity per station compared to a charging station. It will pencil out to being cheaper than building the much greater number of charging stations. Not to mention maintenance. The cost of maintaining millions of charging stations will be a major challenge.

                • keeb420 ( keeb420@kbin.social ) 
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                  3 years ago

                  im no business major but even i can see its a no brainer to go with an 38 ev chargers vs 1 hydrogen station. and the same economies of scale will make it cheaper to build more ev stations cheaper. hydrogen may have a place, trucking and busses like greyhound might make sense for hydrogen but currently it makes no sense to build a hydrogen station for normal passenger vehicles.

        • Where were BEVs just 15 years ago?

          Where are fuel cells today?

          I read my first story about the coming fuel cell cars in 1996, and they were less than a decade from production then, but they never came.

          Toyota, the builder of some of the best cars ever made, has spent decades and billions trying to make fuel cells work for cars. If a company with the engineering excellence of Toyota is struggling for so long…

          BEVs are not on the road because they are better than fuel cells. If fuel cells could be practically made, they would beat BEVs in every aspect. Range, refuelling, environmental impact

          But they don’t.

          BEVs are not better than fuel cells but they actually work for cars.

          • Hypx ( Hypx@kbin.social ) 
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            3 years ago

            BEVs are over 100 years old. In fact, they’re older than ICE cars. No one seems to notice that this is the longest development process of any technology in the industry.

            Meanwhile, fuel cells are just coming into their own. Most of your arguments are just totally outdated and stuck in the past. You seem oblivious to the fact that FCEVs already exist and are being sold to the public right now. They’re already a developed technology, just one that hasn’t become popular yet. It is likely dismissing solar and wind energy just as they were taking off. It is just being closed-minded and short-sighted to say these things.

  • I’m definitely no battery engineer, so correct me if I’m wrong, but… wouldn’t a 100-mile-range battery pack have a shorter life span than a 200-mile pack under the same usage since its charge/discharge cycles would be deeper in terms of %, and possibly more frequent because of the reduced range?

    • tokyorock ( tokyorock@beehaw.org ) 
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      3 years ago

      Yes, this is kind of true. But how you use the battery is also important. If you frequently DC fast charge your pack, it will wear out significantly faster than using Level 1 (120V AC) or Level 2 (240V AC) charging. This is because DCFC pushes the boundaries of how much current the battery can safely take in order to reduce the amount of time it takes to charge the car. It’s a balancing act between customer acceptability and limiting battery degradation.