For the last couple of years there's been growing excitement around electric cars and their close cousins PHEVs (including those "100% pure battery-electric cars, definitely not any kind of hybrids, with a flex-fuel range extender" that GM wants to sell us). You've all been following this, I've been following this, ever since the Tesla Roadster was first announced and fired up my imagination
Among "green car" fans the debate appears to be pretty much over. Just watch what happens whenever an article comes up on AutoblogGreen or Green Car Congress about hydrogen fuel cells -- everybody piles on with comments about how hydrogen will never work, hydrogen is a scam, etc.
The wider world has been pretty slow to catch on. We're still getting news articles in the general media which blithely speak of hydrogen as the obvious, inevitable future of transportation. Reading these articles, you'd never get any clue that hydrogen had any competition or that there were any dissenting views.
It's a big disconnect. It's really jarring to see "mainstream" news articles that clash so harshly with the views of the activists. It's a kind of fascinating, yet frustrating, social phenomenon.
I think we're beginning to see the end of it. The facade of the hydrogen economy is starting to crack, and the mainstream press is finally beginning to wake up and realize the emperor has no clothes.
Consider the following. . .
1. GM is still researching hydrogen, but apparently putting more effort -- and a much more aggressive production schedule -- into E-flex.
2. CARB is planning to change the ZEV credit system from a 10:1 bias in favor of hydrogen cars over electric cars, to a mere 1.33:1 bias.
3. Ballard are selling their automotive fuel cell division to Ford and Daimler.
4. Hydrogenics, another fuel-cell manufacturer, announced they are scaling back operations and closing a design and manufacturing center.
5. Volkswagen's head of research has said publicly that VW's own hydrogen research vehicles are being developed only to meet emissions laws, such as California's. He described hydrogen cars as a "marketing exercise". More info here: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Volkswagen-Concepts/229005/
I look at these events, and I see a chain of events something like dominos falling. It started with the Tesla Roadster's big public splash. That spurred creation of the Chevy Volt concept. That prompted CARB to ease up on their hydrogen agenda. That in turn has led to everything else: Ballard and Hydrogenics and VW hopping off the beleaguered hydrogen-car bandwagon. CARB had become the driving force behind hydrogen, and most car makers were only on board with hydrogen to placate them.
Among "green car" fans the debate appears to be pretty much over. Just watch what happens whenever an article comes up on AutoblogGreen or Green Car Congress about hydrogen fuel cells -- everybody piles on with comments about how hydrogen will never work, hydrogen is a scam, etc.
The wider world has been pretty slow to catch on. We're still getting news articles in the general media which blithely speak of hydrogen as the obvious, inevitable future of transportation. Reading these articles, you'd never get any clue that hydrogen had any competition or that there were any dissenting views.
It's a big disconnect. It's really jarring to see "mainstream" news articles that clash so harshly with the views of the activists. It's a kind of fascinating, yet frustrating, social phenomenon.
I think we're beginning to see the end of it. The facade of the hydrogen economy is starting to crack, and the mainstream press is finally beginning to wake up and realize the emperor has no clothes.
Consider the following. . .
1. GM is still researching hydrogen, but apparently putting more effort -- and a much more aggressive production schedule -- into E-flex.
2. CARB is planning to change the ZEV credit system from a 10:1 bias in favor of hydrogen cars over electric cars, to a mere 1.33:1 bias.
3. Ballard are selling their automotive fuel cell division to Ford and Daimler.
4. Hydrogenics, another fuel-cell manufacturer, announced they are scaling back operations and closing a design and manufacturing center.
5. Volkswagen's head of research has said publicly that VW's own hydrogen research vehicles are being developed only to meet emissions laws, such as California's. He described hydrogen cars as a "marketing exercise". More info here: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Volkswagen-Concepts/229005/
I look at these events, and I see a chain of events something like dominos falling. It started with the Tesla Roadster's big public splash. That spurred creation of the Chevy Volt concept. That prompted CARB to ease up on their hydrogen agenda. That in turn has led to everything else: Ballard and Hydrogenics and VW hopping off the beleaguered hydrogen-car bandwagon. CARB had become the driving force behind hydrogen, and most car makers were only on board with hydrogen to placate them.
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