Boy the fear and hatred of hydrogen and fuel cell is immense in this thread! After all the light I brought to the chamber.
I think the BEV fans can see the writing on the wall and for some reason, are getting really nervous.
Someday they get run over by a flood of Mirais, while they keep chanting "tell me that was just a mirage!".
1. Curtailment: I don't know why we keep arguing about EVs helping in curtailment. It's just painful to charge for long hours (see other thread of owners complaining) and no one is going sit around a charger soaking the excess renewable. Hydrogen is lot more practical for this. Today the EV rates in the big ZEV states are night, when there is no sun. Most of it is from pure baseload power plants.
It's really simple.
If there's daytime curtailment (sunny areas) then the cheap electricity will be soaked up by a combination of
(1) static storage which will sell electricity back to the grid at the evening peak
(2) workplace charging for business use
(3) workplace charging for private use as a benefit.
2. Fuel cell cars have longer ranges and 5 minute fueling time, which makes them lot more appealing than electric cars.
Our Volt has a 15 second fueling time at home, in a space that is sheltered from rain, snow and wind, for at least 60% of our miles , and a 1 1/2 minute fueling time at the gas station.
A long-range BEV would have the same 15 second fueling time at home, but for all of our regular miles.
3. Neither BEV nor FCEV is a solution for today. Hybrids are. So, low volume fuel cell sales are fine, Let the tech mature slowly till renewable excess energy takes over the grid. First order of priority is to retire the coal plants around the world and improve energy efficiency, which luckily is happening at many places.
Hybrids are not a solution, because most people choose not to buy them.
Gas prices dropped $1/gallon, which gave the average light vehicle operator in the USA an extra $520 per year to spend on a vehicle, and they decided to spend the money on larger, less efficient vehicles instead of using the reduced gas cost to pay the premium for a hybrid.
People _do not care_ about energy efficiency in vehicles. If you want people to drive energy efficient vehicles you have to give them a vehicle they want that is efficient.
How about vehicles that are:
As quick as they want.
Have great everyday convenience.
Are quiet.
Are smooth.
Are very responsive.
Are cheap to fuel.
Have zero scheduled maintenance.
4. The problems and solutions differ from region to region. One shoe does not fit all.
Some people say that, but it seems to me that we're never going to stop using electricity, and since we already have it delivered to our home, we aren't going to have any problems with the infrastructure.
In the meantime, another big hydrogen station opens in San Francisco, with 100% renewable hydrogen.
That's good for fueling another 500-700 cars in the area.
What's the price per kilogram?
