Comments on: Energy Department Cuts Funding for Fuel Cell Cars

By: anon

anon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:49:26 +0000

well I think fuel cell cars are OK but where is all the h20 that the car produces going to go??

By: macd

macd — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:58:30 +0000

This guys opinion really counts…
http://www.e-forex.net/blogs/Bear+Market+Investments/44741/Tesla+Motors+co-founder+Marc+Tarpenning+explains+why+Roadster+wasn26acirc3B8099t+a+hydrogen+car

By: fred smilek

fred smilek — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:39:49 +0000

Fuel cell cars are an expensive solution to the problem of transportation. For the short term, hybrids & electric cars are the way to go. That’s what I believe.

By: hybridgreg

hybridgreg — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:53:16 +0000

WolfgangGulich,
The only reason that these car companies are investing in outragiously expensive fuel cell technology was that the US government gave them waivers on the tougher pollution standards for their fleet of cars if they would produce a couple of hundred altenative fuel vehicles. The waiver of strict emission standards for a given year's production is "fueling" the development of these expensive "one-of-a-kind" vehicles, like fuel cell vehicles. The requirements to be given one of these waivers is more complex than I am stating here, but you see the point. Each of the 8 Toyota fuel cell SUVs produced, cost in excess of 1.25 million dollars. I actually have driven one. They are nice, but not practical at that price.

Sherwood, read my explanation above of why these cars are made. Also, read my comment above on hydrogen gas. It is found in huge amounts, naturally, in the US (enough to power the US for a century or more). It already has a distribution network setup in homes in the US (the gas line that runs into the house) and it is very cheap (an equivilant BTU conversion to a gallon gasoline is about 70 cents per gallon). Oh, and we can convert existing gasoline cars to hydrogen just like converted gasoline cars to propane). So, again, there are some good solutions if we just connect the dots of technologies we already know works. Electric... great! Hydrogen...terrific! Biodiesel...it's now clean and efficient! Piston engines...common! Hybrids...they work! The challenge...buy the fuel efficent car that meets your needs and put our money where your heart is.

By: WolfgangGullich

WolfgangGullich — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:15:57 +0000

I don’t get this. Not only has the price of the materials that goes into fuel cells gone down (to the point were a cell can be built for a couple thousand dollars, building the national infrastructure would not be difficult. Hydrogen generators are small and can be placed on the roofs of fuel stations thereby eliminating the need for a distribution network for the gas. Virtually all the big automakers (or the smart ones like BMW, Honda, Hyundai, and GM) have put $ Billions into researching this tech. This is a bad move on the part of the govt and just shows you the oil companies still rule the roost.

By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:54:44 +0000

Finally, an intelligent decision. Fuel cell cars are an expensive solution
To the problem of transportation. For the short term, hybrids & electric cars are the way to go. My Prius does save on my fuel costs. The new
Insight Is one example of hybrids getting cheaper.

By: Sherwood

Sherwood — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:29:05 +0000

One other MAJOR consideration. Consider the curent cost of EVs, ranging from under $25K sedans to ~$100,000 - the latter buying you a really SWEET Tesla Roadster or Fisker Karma or (my favorite) Lotus EV that gets up to 400mpg!

Then consider the following quote from Edmunds.com on the Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell vehicle:

"Not for Sale
Honda won't be selling the Clarity . . . because it is largely hand-assembled and stuffed with hideously expensive technology. The company won't discuss the cost of each vehicle, but nobody on the Clarity team blinks when it's suggested that Honda would have to charge at least $1 million apiece just to break even on the immediate production costs."

OR, you could buy TEN TESLAS or 40 EV sedans!!!!

By: Sherwood

Sherwood — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:00:46 +0000

EXCELLENT move that really shows the intelligence of those responsible. Hydrogen fuel cells were basically a green washing supported by the auto and fossil fuel industry specifically *because* they knew it was not even on the distant horizon. No cars, no supporting infrastructure, and no carbon-free means of creating hydrogen. Get real, people. This was feasible only in la la land.
Electric vehicles have more of an infrastructure than we give them credit for. Look no further than the plug in your garage! Since most Americans drive less per day than the range of even today’s EVs, this is all that is needed for a commuting car.
Furthermore, electricity is the most flexible fuel there is – you will ALWAYS be able to create it – and it is far cleaner and more efficient than gasoline engines even if coal (the dirtiest of fossil fuels) is used to make the electricity.
Finally, EVs can give back. Currently, there is NO means of storage in the electrical grid. This means both the grid and the power plants must be constructed to handle peak loads despite the fact that they rarely operate at full capacity. Storage of electricity in EVs would smooth out electrical supply and demand and actually reduce the need for power plant construction. Can hydrogen cells do that???

By: Ron Tetrev

Ron Tetrev — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:15:27 +0000

I never heard that, that fuel cell cars only operate in an optimized temperate climate.

How can fuel cell cars NOT work below freezing? Hydrogen doesn't have the same freezing range as gasoline, and whle fuel cells may operate slower in colder weather, that problem is no different from any other present fuel source. Gasoline and diesel have starting issues when cold. Gasoline is made bad mainly because of trapped water vapor turning into a (unstartable) liquid.

Where have you heard otherwise?

By: Ron Tetrev

Ron Tetrev — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:09:43 +0000

Problem is, it only solves one problem, and not for the long-term future.

Sure, diesels have come a long way. And their engines are more efficient. But we still generate CO2 emissions that warm the planet. And we still rely on outside (read: foreign) sources for our energy needs.

And no, neither is biodiesel a possibility. The planet can feed us, or the car, but not both.

Not a good solution, any way you cut it.

America wants, needs, a long-term answer to our clunky hydrocarbon infrastructure. Electric is one solution. Hydrogen, I feel, is another that should be pursued.

Remember, if you exercise a technology, it gets better. Look at your computer system, and tell me that it’s not so.