Reply to post: Re: Hydrogen filling

Brits unveil 'revolutionary' hydrogen-powered car

Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward

Re: Hydrogen filling

> Steam methane reforming, can take the natural gas that is piped all over the country and converts it to hydrogen.

Except environmentally that's pretty much as dirty as simply burning the gas - ignoring the complexities of safely compressing and storing the hydrogen.

Hydrogen has pretty much all the worst attributes you can imagine from a fuel: low energy density, extremely high volatility, and its tiny molecules can leak through almost anything. What good is it if after two weeks in the garage your fuel tank is empty?

The only plus point in this context is the ability to generate electricity directly from it in a fuel cell, rather than burn it.

Some efficiency is gained by the regenerative braking, but the main reason this car achieves such high "effective" mpg is that it is extremely lightweight and has a puny power train. Put a 125cc motorbike engine in this chassis and you'll also achieve about 60mph top speed, and probably 100+mpg too.

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