Not really the HPEV subject , but get's an overall overview of the hybrid technologies :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoZN828qnp8&t=745s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQjFQCPzLSc
As a Mech Engineer , I can testify that John Cadogan is a no b/s chap who gives a very straight forward explanation about viability of plug-in hybrid technology .
Tail pipe pollution - tick . Viability - nonsense .
Interesting discussion and agree not sure governments will raise taxes to replace petrol excise.
Everything I've heard and read though seems to put electric well ahead of hydrogen on almost all counts for passenger cars i.e. Hydrogen cars won't overtake electric vehicles because they're hampered by the laws of science (theconversation.com) It all comes down to the extreme lack of enegy from creating hydrogen, converting it to liquid, then back to power.
Green hyrogen seems most likley as the solution for heavy transport such as planes, ships and perhaps very long distance travel.
BMW is planning on introducing a Hydrogen fuel cell SUV as soon as 2025 and small-scale production before the end of 2022.
I have made no attempts to conceal the fact that I believe Hydrogen fuel cel cars are a superior alternative to all-battery powered EVs. They allow vehicle use that is basically identical to the way we have grown used to using our ICE vehicles - range, refuel time, weight of vehicle, and probably the most important aspect from the government’s point of view, and hence a reason I see governments pushing for H2 fuel cell vehicles, is that their will not need to be any shift in the way governments currently get revenue from vehicles.
None of us like fuel excise taxes, but if we all stop refuelling the government will just slap us with other, equivalent in value, taxes. There is a bit of peace of mind maintaining the status quo because IMHO any introduced tax will just hit us harder. Governments tend to do things that are in their favour.
Here’s a little excerpt from the article:
“BMW unveiled the fuel cell iX5 Hydrogen concept car at the International Motor Show Germany in September 2021. Small-scale production of the sport utility vehicle will begin before the end of 2022, the company had previously announced.
FCVs can be refueled in three to four minutes -- much faster than a battery electric vehicle. Though BMW has not revealed the iX5's range, the model is equipped with two roughly 6-kilogram tanks to allow for long-distance travel.”
And a great point about that 12kg of Hydrogen is that it will replace the need for several hundred kg of batteries. Probably could reduce the car weight by more than 500kg.
In my opinion, EVs with Hydrogen Fuel Cells are the future, it all depends on producing green Hydrogen cheaply enough and providing sufficient refuelling stations. My previous post in this thread addresses that.
So everyone already knows the subject of this post is a problem preventing the uptake of Hydrogen Powered Electric Vehicles, but hey, the following article seems such a simple way to address this.
Energy storage using clean Hydrogen
I envisage a distributed network of service stations using solar or wind to generate electricity, that, via electrolysis creates Hydrogen and can serve a dual purpose.
Maybe all those rest-stops along major highways could have this technology installed, giving travellers another reason to stop and rest.
Maybe ALL existing service stations could be updated with this technology. Actually, this is quite appropriate as everyone is already used to stopping and filingup at them.
And ANY existing business could do the same - I.e. parking stations, shopping centres, anywhere anyone parks their vehicle!
Once the infrastructure is in place, almost all sales are pure profit.
BTW, I have noticed the grammatical error in the subject--alas, I can't change it now. :(