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Comment by seanmcdirmid | Hacker News Reader

Those compressed tanks are still expensive, comparable to a battery in cost. Right now power return is like 38% given electricity - hydrogen - compression - convert back to electricity costs.

Sure it can get better, so can BEVs. I don’t see hydrogen winning though, electricity is just so pervasive while the infrastructure for hydrogen would have to be built out, and people might not want to go back to the gas station model after they are used to just charging at home.

They might work out for truck transport given the weight savings, and easier deployment of hydrogen infrastructure at truck stops.

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It's literally just a tank. It will be far cheaper than batteries, especially if you want real range.

Most of the arguments against hydrogen cars are just attempts to defend BEVs, not serious arguments against them. BEV advocates can't even acknowledge that millions of people live in apartments or condos, and will probably never have convenient access to charging systems. They pretty much require an alternative.

It’s really not just a tank, it has to be capable of very high pressure storage, at -240C, which is kind of cold. If it were just a tank, Hydrogen fuel cell cars wouldn’t be $50k+. Not only that, but you are now paying a per gallon cost for hydrogen that is similar, if not more, than what gasoline costs, given the infra needed to just hold the hydrogen and then send it into someone p’s tank, as well as deliver it.

Millions of people live in condos and apartments without access to even parking, they park on the street I guess in countries that allow that (many countries require that you show proof of parking spot before they’ll sell you a vehicle). Norway is already at 50%, it’s not going to be even a contest in most countries that don’t have America’s flaky parking arrangements.

It literally is a just a tank. Just a strong one. Why do you have such a hard time understanding this basic fact? And what did BEVs cost when they first came out?

These are just excuses that exist to defend BEVs. They are not serious arguments. It is ironically just a repeat of anti-BEVs arguments, just by BEV fans against the next big idea this time. I guess just like Reddit turning into the next Digg, history sometimes repeats like this.

A strong and cold tank, literally 90% of the reason the car costs more than $50k compared to the cheap fuel cell and basic EV drive train that they also put into the vehicle.

Hydrogen fuel cells are economically non-starters for all but a few niche applications. Toyota is just so sunk cost on it and behind on BEVs that they are desperate to make hydrogen happen even when it clear isn’t.

It only needs high pressure for high range. You could build cheaper FCVs that would cover commuter needs like basic BEVs do without high pressure tanks.

It would require a bit of space to do that. FCEVs already don’t have much storage space, I’m not sure what less compression (and less range) would lead to. Maybe a baluga car design like they did for hydrogen powered planes?

Hydrogen tanks are physically smaller than li-ion batteries. There will come a time when we will use small tanks that fit underneath the passenger compartment. At which point an FCEV has no packaging disadvantage compared to BEVs.

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