Comments on: A Lesson for Electric Car Makers in Hydrogen Vehicles' Loss

By: 4 Lessons For Fuel Cell Makers, Amidst the Bloom Boom

4 Lessons For Fuel Cell Makers, Amidst the Bloom Boom — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:01:01 +0000

[...] as set forth in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. In May 2009, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that DOE would no longer fund research into fuel cells for cars, saying that a hydrogen car economy wasn’t likely in the next 20 [...]

By: Ford & DOE Chiefs Weigh In on Planning for High Oil Prices

Ford & DOE Chiefs Weigh In on Planning for High Oil Prices — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:30:10 +0000

[...] contrast, the DOE recently decided to cut $100 million from its hydrogen fuel cell program for 2010 after the agency concluded that converting to a hydrogen car economy with the next 10-20 [...]

By: ArtM72

ArtM72 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:56:51 +0000

The fundamental problem with hydrogen just seems to continue to escape its mention in published articles...its source and the energy cost to produce it. The "hydrogen economy" was a classic red herring given legs by the petroleum industry which knew the thermodynamics were poor.

For the screwball who believes the start of hydrogen abandonment by Obama was due to the lack of campaign contributions, well, that's probably consistant with his faith in intelligent design based creationism. He would do better spending some time learning about the characteristics of the new batteries now going into production whose developement phase from institutions like Argonne is now substantially complete. Great new automotive class batteries are ready to go if you care to make the effort to overturn your longstanding belief that they aren't.

By: Eco-Beat, 5/14 | EcoSilly

Eco-Beat, 5/14 | EcoSilly — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:01:20 +0000

[...] like the Obama administration is getting ready to pull the plug on hydrogen [...]

By: Eco-Beat, 5/14 | FollowGreen.com

Eco-Beat, 5/14 | FollowGreen.com — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:03:39 +0000

[...] solar plant planned for Arizona desert. Looks like the Obama administration is getting ready to pull the plug on hydrogen [...]

By: Eco-Beat, 4/14 | InfoFork.com

Eco-Beat, 4/14 | InfoFork.com — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:05:53 +0000

[...] like the Obama administration is getting ready to pull the plug on hydrogen cars. Eco-Beat, 4/14 originally appeared on Green Daily on Thu, 14 May 2009 15:00:00 [...]

By: Eco-Beat, 4/14 | EcoSilly

Eco-Beat, 4/14 | EcoSilly — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:02:53 +0000

[...] like the Obama administration is getting ready to pull the plug on hydrogen [...]

By: What to read on the GigaOM network

What to read on the GigaOM network — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:15:43 +0000

[...] by those aged 35-49 (NewTeeVee) How to access your Time Capsule over the Internet (TheAppleBlog) A lesson for EV makers in hydrogen vehicles’ loss (Earth2Tech) [...]

By: Josie Garthwaite

Josie Garthwaite — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:59:29 +0000

@Jim I agree that it makes more sense to fund technology that's likely to deliver measurable results in the near future. Ideally that funding can serve as a springboard -- helping to get things up and running and then letting them fly on their own.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:59:43 +0000

I agree with Paul and Rockfish.

The lesson is to pursue a technology that makes sense.

And the infrastructure issues with PHEVs are tiny compared with hydrogen. We can have 400,000 PHEVs on the road with no changes to the grid at all. There's lots of grid capacity at nighttime, when most vehicles would be charging.

By: kent beuchert

kent beuchert — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:58:24 +0000

If the only place you can recharge an electric car is your house, you won’t get very far in that exorbitantly expensive paperweight. Duh.
The problem with having govts trying to influence technology is obvious. Obama obviously has completely missed the lessons from fuel cell subsidies. He thinks money is going to produce a better battery. No, no, brainless one, better ideas produce better batteries. Actually, the MIT advances recently are the biggest thing in battery developnment these days, by far.
The reason fuel cell were cut was because Obama never got his campaign contribution from the fuel cell folks. Just look at whose profitted from recent admin decisions (UAW, wind industry, solar industry). The UAw, which destroyed the auto industry, is getting their $20 retiree health benefits (non-union GM workers pay for half of theirs while working and get none when they retire). Obama’s decisions are easy to understand. Just follow the money.

By: Rockfish

Rockfish — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:48:19 +0000

"Of course, infrastructure remains one of the big missing pieces for mass adoption of plug-in vehicles, too."

Uh, my house has electricity. How 'bout yours?

Plug in hybrids offer the advantage of running on electricity or gasoline, both of which have well-deployed infrastructure. The vast majority of private vehicle trips are short, to and from home. All the fuss about not having public charging stations is pointless. You charge at home. If you run out of charge while away, you run on gas. This approach will get us 10 or 20 years down the road with vastly reduced emissions and oil consumption, while the infrastructure and technology for pure EV's gets worked out.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:22:11 +0000

So what's the leason? Start off with a viable idea?

Bush and Hydrogen were a joke from the start, in that order! It was just a BS way to prolong oil revenues and ICE manufacture indefinatley while seeminly doing 'something'. The ONLY people even in favour of it were Bush, his oil cronies and the auto makers... Everyone on the planet who can add were beside themselves with each announcement that the future would be hydrogen.