I hadn't seen a complete episode of Top Gear before, but I was able to see the episode where they tested the Roadster from 2008. IMO opinion it was a pretty silly show aimed at 12 year old boys fascinated with loud super cars.
I know there has been some controversy with their take on the Roadster, but what I found most telling was the segment at the end of the program where they gave glowing reviews to the Honda FCX which I had never heard of. They went on in glowing terms how Honda was going to save the car industry with fuel cells.
It's been almost 8 years since that episode aired in 2008 and what has happened? The FCX is only produced in small numbers and Toyota is only planning on making 2000 Mirai this year.
Meanwhile there are a number of BEVs on the market now including two from Tesla. The Model X which has been off to a stumbling start on production has produced more vehicles so far this year than Toyota plans for the Mirai for all of this year. And nobody has got the fueling infrastructure worked out.
I agree with the claims that fuel cells are a dead end technology, but if they were going to win, it's going to have to be a come from behind victory. BEVs are way out ahead at this point in numbers, variety, and support infrastructure.
I just thought it was an ironic time capsule to see these guys in 2008 denigrating BEVs in favor of fuel cells and how Honda specifically was going to save the world with their FCX. I think this is the right forum, fuel cell cars do run on electricity, just not from batteries.
I know there has been some controversy with their take on the Roadster, but what I found most telling was the segment at the end of the program where they gave glowing reviews to the Honda FCX which I had never heard of. They went on in glowing terms how Honda was going to save the car industry with fuel cells.
It's been almost 8 years since that episode aired in 2008 and what has happened? The FCX is only produced in small numbers and Toyota is only planning on making 2000 Mirai this year.
Meanwhile there are a number of BEVs on the market now including two from Tesla. The Model X which has been off to a stumbling start on production has produced more vehicles so far this year than Toyota plans for the Mirai for all of this year. And nobody has got the fueling infrastructure worked out.
I agree with the claims that fuel cells are a dead end technology, but if they were going to win, it's going to have to be a come from behind victory. BEVs are way out ahead at this point in numbers, variety, and support infrastructure.
I just thought it was an ironic time capsule to see these guys in 2008 denigrating BEVs in favor of fuel cells and how Honda specifically was going to save the world with their FCX. I think this is the right forum, fuel cell cars do run on electricity, just not from batteries.
