Re: Toyota working on the Corolla Cross H2 hydrogen-based ICE Roadcar Quote:
Originally Posted by SKC-auto https://www.motorsport.com/super-tai...uture/6514557/
The first question then should be, why this transition to EVs is required? A slight inconvenience for few drivers does not matter if the result is good for everyone. I don't know if you have kids, but it is quiet common to stop for 30mins every 4 hours of driving with kids or old people.
Anyway, people who prefer to stop for less than 10 mins should wait until 2030 to convert to EVs. |
Thanks for the link; yes, you are right. Hydrogen as fuel seems like a bit too far to be practical, as of now. Yes, I have a child, but we are not even at the point of traveling for four hours right now, but I want to point out that four hours here is about 450 km, which is beyond the range of any EV as of now, and if it is winter, the effective range is barely 200 km, so those 30 minute stops need to come a lot earlier. Also, another point with traveling with kids is that you need to be able to stop when they want, not when you want, so cranky kids plus a car which needs to be stopped at a designated charging station would mean at least twice the number of stops, even if you are just wishing you could get to the destination to relax.
There really is no prize for falling onto the edge of a sharp sword, being an early adopter. If you think the warm feeling of doing something good for the environment is nice, it's far better if you simply reduce car use altogether. And the disposal/recycling alternatives for spent batteries is still unclear, even when we are almost ready to accept that EVs are mature, and that is damning to say the least. Quote:
Originally Posted by theMAG I'd say Toyota might have something by sticking to their hydrogen alternative.
Unless EVs can perform comparably in range with ICE vehicles in cold - which they do not currently, have an 80% recharge in 20 minutes and have as wide-spread a recharging network even in the remotest parts of a country as gas stations - neither of which could be further from reality at this time, or are affordable to own even in depressed socio-economic communities - which couldn't be any more unattainable from today's average EV price, pure EVs will remain expensive toys. |
Exactly. Some countries like Norway and Sweden incentivized EV purchases to encourage early adopters, but Sweden ended the subsidy last year, so there's really no incentive except for maybe bragging rights of owning some fancy EV, but in reality, they are unpractical. My friend had to cancel a trip to visit us mainly because of the charging logistics. He'd not have had any difficulty with the planning, had he not sold off his diesel car. Quote:
Originally Posted by SKC-auto One sells in millions, the other in few thousands. Even though they lose some range, EVs are just fine in cold places like Norway. |
No. Norway heavily incentivized EVs by giving government funded discounts (like cashbacks), which is making it seem more successful than it really is. The range still sucks in winters, but yes, manageable with extra jumping through hoops, but some of the earliest adopters already have batteries that have been replaced or well on its way, and we still don't have proper recycling and disposal routines in place, so the warm feeling of doing something good for the environment rings hollow, at least as of now. The next couple of years will bring ever increasing numbers of those batteries, and that's a potential threat to the environment. We seem to just be kicking the bucket further down the road. This is the reason why Toyota at least have to be lauded for thinking outside the box, but it's another story altogether whether their tech will gain maturity and traction. The calorific value of hydrogen is three times higher than both diesel and petrol, so in principle, it will never require truckloads of hydrogen. The trucks were obviously the mobile 'gas stations', not just the gas.
Last edited by supermax : 3rd January 2023 at 15:29.
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