Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[i2amroy]

Really the big problem with hydrogen powered engines is energy density. Gasoline and diesel are about 5 and 6 times more energy dense, respectively, which means that either you need to carry more weight, or your 300 mile distance limit per fill up just got cut down to 60 miles. And for short in-city distances you really don't need hydrogen either, because just a straight electric car will get you wherever you want to go.

I mean we're starting to get more hydrogen cars, but really the big reason is that the US is set up (geographically) so that you tend to either be driving extremely far distances (and thus need the extra energy density of gasoline) or you are driving extremely short ones (and thus an electric car would do the trick). We don't have too much of a demand for middle distance travel, since you're generally either sticking within the shorter electric range or making that long jump betwixt cities.

Additionally the whole "hybrid" thing jumped in first for what little middle range travel we do, which limits usage of hydrogen even further. (Plus the simple engineering problems of simply having a tank that can hold hydrogen at the pressures required; we have to use things like carbon fiber because things like steel will start leaking through the steel itself or explode long before we reach the required pressure levels.

[Arx]

I would honestly save up and buy a Tesla if it was feasible where I live.

[Orange Wizard]

(Plus the simple engineering problems of simply having a tank that can hold hydrogen at the pressures required; we have to use things like carbon fiber because things like steel will start leaking through the steel itself or explode long before we reach the required pressure levels.

Maybe a simpler solution would be to store the hydrogen in water form, and electrolyse it from a battery/capacitor bank on the fly. Then you just need to stop off at a power and water station every so often and avoid any potential pressure issues.

...

Wait, that's not simple?

[Descan]

You might as well just run off the power at that point, it'd be more efficient.

[i2amroy]

You might as well just run off the power at that point, it'd be more efficient.

Yeah, essentially what you're saying at that point is "why don't we put solar panels on top of our cars and then use the electricity to power them?"

The only real advantage of hydrogen vs straight electric is the exact same thing as diesel/gas vs hydrogen; hydrogen has an energy density that is several times higher than that of straight batteries, so you can go farther between fillups at the cost of a small efficiency hit.

There's also the problem that it takes some pretty large equipment to compress hydrogen to the point where it's actually useful (we're talking over 10,000 psi, ~690 atm). Last I checked the most modern equipment required to compress something like that was fairly heavy and occupied a space about as large as a single one of those large air conditioning units you find outside of buildings or on the roof, and it was one of those "slowly split water and then compress it over the course of the day to give you a fillup each morning" type of thing more than a "compress large amounts on demand as we go" one. Still certainly something you could mount in your garage (or possibly on like a large truck/camper), but not really something you'd mount on a sportscar.

[Orange Wizard]

That was supposed to be a joke.

[IcyTea31]

Why not put a miniature oil refinery in our cars and fuel up with crude oil?

[Flying Dice]

Why not build all of our roads like hotwheels tracks with car ski lifts leading to the starting points? No fuel needed at all for that!

^{_{Good luck getting insurance, though.}}

[Loud Whispers]

Brits, Canadians, Germans, Chinese and Brazilians have hydrogen buses, I suspect better technology will one day make hydrogen fuel cells more readily available for the public

[scriver]

Why not build all of our roads like hotwheels tracks with car ski lifts leading to the starting points? No fuel needed at all for that!

^{_{Good luck getting insurance, though.}}

We won't need insurance. Since when has anyone ever been injured in a hotwheels crash?

[sprinkled chariot]

Brits, Canadians, Germans, Chinese and Brazilians have hydrogen buses, I suspect better technology will one day make hydrogen fuel cells more readily available for the public

Did you ever think about attaching masts with sails to your car?
- Ecological? - 300 % ecological
- Style points? - You push them to the limit
- Good for pirate cosplay? - Yarr matey
- Laws about taxing car ownage usually check for power of engine, so you just broke free from some taxes.May be you can also legally avoid some more laws with your car getting land ship status, like you can own telescopic baton here, if you have documents stating, that your telescopic baton is not a weapon, but a device for catching fish.
- Also you can call yourself captain, captain Loud Whispers.

[Eric Blank]

Have you ever thought of using a horse and buggy? Super classy.

You could also, like, totally jog those 30 miles to work every day. You're more efficient than the horses anyway, right?

[i2amroy]

That was supposed to be a joke.

Dammnit Orange Wizard! Quit writing jokes that people take for you being serious!

You could also, like, totally jog those 30 miles to work every day. You're more efficient than the horses anyway, right?

Funnily enough in terms of energy consumed per mile traveled I think the horse beats you. #HorsesBetterThanPeople

[Bohandas]

Have you ever thought of using a horse and buggy? Super classy.

But then we'd have horse shit everywhere

[TempAcc]

Then again, horses have pretty much evolved to be good at running and little else, so :v