Question of the Month: Which technology will power automobiles in 20 years?

e14 Question of the Month

The future of transportation is renewable energy. Electric vehicles are growing in popularity, and more resources are being invested into the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Take the poll and let us know what technology will power cars in the near future, and please elaborate in the Comments section below!

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michaelkellett over 2 years ago in reply to Ronald777 +5

This is not correct. Hydrogen used as fuel is (usually) made by electrolysis of water, splitting it up into oxygen and hydrogen by using electrical energy. The oxygen is released to the atmosphere and…
michaelkellett over 2 years ago +2

Synthetic fuel (which might be hydrogen or a mix of hydrogen, diesel, petrol and methane). The world has over 1 billion petrol and diesel vehicles and the infrastructure to get liquid fuel into them. …
koudelad over 2 years ago +2

I recommend this video, which explains why hydrogen won't save us. Currently made mainly from fossil fuels, very complicated for storage and building the infrastructure. www.youtube.com/watch

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scottiebabe over 2 years ago

Interesting question! I'm not sure about hydrogen being energy source for the everyday car

If an ICE engine is 25% efficient, you are making use of approximately 8MJ/L of the energy in gasoline. So assuming a hydrogen powered drivetrain is 100% efficient. It would seem you would need the same volume of liquid hydrogen as gasoline to travel the same distance. SUVs have 80L gasoline fuel tanks. Not sure...
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michaelkellett 11 months ago in reply to scottiebabe

A hydrogen powered drive train will not be 100% efficient - the kind of fuel cell which might be used in cars is only about 40% efficient (better ones exist but molten carbonate technology is unlikely to be feasible in a car). The electric parts of the drive chain won't be perfect either - estimates vary but 90% seems fair. So the hydrogen car will manage 36% v 25% - an improvement but not enough to make the tank smaller.

And I don't fancy liquid hydrogen , one warm day too many and ....... at best the tank vents itself - or do we have to factor in the cryogenic cooler in the garage ?

MK
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scottiebabe 11 months ago in reply to michaelkellett

Riding a 3000PSI tank of natural gas(methane), gives me the heebeegeebees too.

Though kudos to the people who made it happen.

https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/bajaj-freedom-125-cng-powered-motorcycle/

Right now nat gas is selling at $1/GJ, which is equivalent gasoline being 3.8 C/L (thermal equivalent)
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michaelkellett 11 months ago in reply to scottiebabe

If only it were that price in the UK, it's about £1 per therm = £10 per GJ.

MK
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Andrew J 11 months ago in reply to michaelkellett

It would be fair to say that creating hydrogen at the moment requires a fair amount of energy (electricity) and a hydrogen powered vehicle takes that hydrogen and converts it back to electricity for the vehicle to use. It's more efficient to just use electricity in the first place.
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michaelkellett 11 months ago in reply to Andrew J

Undoubtedly.

I am not a believer in the hydrogen economy.

This thread is a year old now and right at the beginning I made my pitch for synthetic fuel. Nothing has happened in the last 12 months to make me change my mind.

MK
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michaelkellett 11 months ago in reply to Andrew J

Undoubtedly.

I am not a believer in the hydrogen economy.

This thread is a year old now and right at the beginning I made my pitch for synthetic fuel. Nothing has happened in the last 12 months to make me change my mind.

MK
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