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Comment by rob74 | Hacker News Reader

The "vision of a hydrogen society where hydrogen is used in every sector" is probably motivated by a desire to become technological leaders in this field. Japan has fallen behind in battery technology, and Toyota was an early leader with its hybrid vehicles, but when it comes to fully electric cars, Japanese car makers are also falling behind. So I suspect they are trying to find a niche where they can develop technologies that they can maybe export later. From that point of view, where the hydrogen is coming from is not that important. And: a battery electric car is also not really helping to "save the planet" if the electricity used to charge it is coming from a coal plant...

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This was a plan from 2017, before (and possibly part of the reason) they missed the chance to lead on battery vehicles. So it just needs updated, as the article suggests:

> The report outlines three key areas where the government’s strategy is severely flawed:

1) The selection of low-priority applications;

2) Prioritisation of fossil-fuel-based grey and blue hydrogen; and

3) The lack of focus on domestic green hydrogen production, leaving Japan lagging behind other nations.

> Japan has fallen behind in battery technology

If you could say a little more about this, I'd appreciate it. Sanyo (Panasonic) and Murata Manufacturing (Sony) still produce top quality Li-ion cells, among the best there are, and the best NiMH cells in the world are still made only by FDK Corporation.

The attraction to hydrogen by the automotive companies of Japan is that it would preserve their balance sheets. An ICE car produces various revenue streams for auto makers. First, the sale price, then the oil changes, and plenty of ongoing maintenance. While a straight up EV would shrink an automaker's balance sheet tremendously. The motor has one moving part that is very resilient. The motor doesn't require a transmission. Regenerative brakes means a long time between needing new brakes. And then of course, other industries that support ICE transportation. Oil refineries, gas stations and all of that.

Conveniently, a hydrogen fuel cell in a car replicates almost of that. The fuel cell is a hot, complex finicky source of power that needs maintenance and sophisticated manufacturing to create. Storing the hydrogen itself is very tricky as it tends to eat metals. It still needs normal brakes.

You can see why the CEO's of Japanese car makers could allow themselves to be deluded about how much better fuel cell technology is than EV tech. EV tech is just a battery, an electric motor and regenerating braking. This is technology from a hundred years ago and needs very little regular maintenance other than tires, a wall socket and wiper fluid.

BMW is considering charging for heated seats in a subscription model.

"No maintainence" EV cars are just platforms for subscriptions.

Hydrogen vs battery isn't about farming dollars and cents, that can be done other ways.

Have they considered ad-supported seat heating? Along with crypto mining?

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