Richard Ha writes:
Toyota made a major announcement today: It will stop focusing on pure electric vehicles, and begin focusing its attention on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This is huge.
Do you know that here on the Big Island we throw away (“curtail”) tons of electricity from geothermal and wind every night? We can turn this energy into hydrogen fuel cells, for transportation, and this can help us solve our transportation fuel problem. It can also be used for nitrogen fertilizer.
Solar energy projects do not provide curtailed electricity. We need to think about the big picture and be careful about running like lemmings after solar.
Hydrogen fuel cell for transportation is a very good opportunity for the Big Island to use its curtailed electricity. It’s a free resource that already exists; currently, we are just throwing it away.
From Audioguide.com:
“Toyota will forgo further development in pure electric vehicles in search of what it sees as more promising alternative fuel vehicles.
The automaker will focus on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles according to Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz….”
Converting electricity to hydrogen is very inefficient. You waste a third or more of your energy in electrolysis then another third or more in a fuel cell converting it back to electricity. That’s over 50% of your energy gone. Lithium batteries are over 95% efficient. They are mass produced, recyclable, and prices are falling. Every phone, computer, and mass produced electric car already runs on them. Hell my house runs on them. Even lead acid batteries are at least 80% effecient. If you think lithium is to expensive go price a hydrogen fuel cell. Yikes!!
Toyota’s interest in hydrogen is probably a delay tactic because they have a huge investment in their hybrid cars, not EVs. Selling pure EVs wouldn’t be as profitable. The companies that are producing pure EVs don’t have profitable hybrid brands, thus don’t have Toyota’s delema.