• EV are a short term tip of the iceberg solution to our energy challenges
  • Lithium-ion is a non-renewable natural resource with limited supplies
  • The future is Hydrogen fuel cells

Major carmakers as Toyota, Honda, Daimler, General Motors, and Hyundai/Kia are deep into plans for commercial production of cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells starting in 2012.

Like natural gas, hydrogen can be used as a car fuel with engine modifications. But carmakers think fuel cells are the better, more efficient, silent, clean power source for transportation. They function somewhat like a battery, except that their fuel is constantly replenished, reacting electrochemically with the air’s oxygen to make electricity to drive an electric motor.

Today, such vehicles are hand-built and expensive, but costs will come down once series production gets underway: Toyota says that it expects to “shock” the industry with its cost reduction as much as 90%.

As for hydrogen fuel costs are expected to be $2-3 per kilogram by around 2018 (a kilogram of hydrogen has about the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline), but because fuel cells are about twice as efficient as internal combustion engines, the effective cost per unit of distance would be about half that.

It is worth noting that hydrogen’s supporters do not oppose battery-powered cars, and they embrace biofuels as another renewable source of hydrogen. But because of the weight of electric batteries, their limited range, cost, and other considerations, batteries are best suited primarily for short-range city cars.

Source:  Project Syndicate &  Ecobella Blog