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Speculating about the next years, Fred Lambert writes that once there are good all-electric options across the car market internal combustion engines will be as good as dead.
Before 2025, there's going to be a point where there's not going to be a single car buyer in their right mind who's going to want to buy a new gasoline car. Not a single one. Because they're going to look at the market, they're going to look at what's out there, and all the different electric car models that are out there now. By that point, by 2025, there's going to be dozens and dozens of more EV models than what's available today. And attractive ones!
It's going to be hard for someone to justify buying a gas-powered car at that point, because they're going to think about the resale value of it.
I think the resale value of gasoline cars is going to drop massively in the next five years, and predicted value is going to drop even more drastically. Buying a gasoline car right now is a bad choice. Buying a gasoline car within the next five years is going to be just a financial suicide for most people.
Earlier on SN:
Every Electric Vehicle on Sale in the US for 2019 and Its Range (2019)
Australian Plan to Ban Petrol and Diesel Cars (2019)
Have We Reached Peak Car? (2018)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @08:47AM (6 children)
I agree sir, much like my post following yours. I wish H2 was chosen as the path.
Think of all the issue Tesla and other car manufacturers have, with lion battery sourcing. All gone, if H2 was used!
But they worry about refill infrastructure. Bah.
Plus, cost! Imagine how much CHEAPER without all those batteries! Instead, an H2 tank!
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @10:24AM (5 children)
It tends to permeate into whatever pressure container it is held within (because its mollecules are so small) and over time render the pressure container walls brittle [1].
Brittle is not a word you want to use to describe the wall of a high pressure H2 tank.
Fuels that are liquids at STP are simply by far much easier to handle. What is really needed is using carbon capture along with solar or wind farms to synthesize a liquid fuel (alcohol or gasoline or diesel) that could then be easily transported and distributed to end users (cars). Using carbon capture results in no additional carbon added, and we retain all the convenient aspects of liquid fuels.
[1] https://www.imetllc.com/training-article/hydrogen-embrittlement-steel/ [imetllc.com]
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday July 09 2019, @01:07PM (1 child)
H2 has one irritating little problem.
It tends to permeate into whatever pressure container it is held within (because its mollecules are so small) and over time render the pressure container walls brittle [1].
Very long time ago, there was some progress using metal hyrdides for storage. Some of it looked quite promising but I do not know the current status and whether it can be practical as feul storage.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @02:38PM
wasn't the hindenburg full of hydrogen too
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @05:37PM (2 children)
maybe they can make enough progress to generate the hydrogen on demand from electrolysis and just burn it as it's generated. no storage issues then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @05:43PM
or nitrogen from the air.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Tuesday July 09 2019, @06:49PM
They could use batteries to store the electrical energy required for this to work. Batteries have gotten a lot better in the past decade, to the point where this might be feasible.
Basically, electrolysis adds chemical energy to water by breaking the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen. This energy can then be stored as hydrogen (as mentioned elsewhere in this thread). The oxygen doesn't need to be stored at all, because there's enough floating around in the air wherever a reasonable person might want to drive. That feature can save a lot of weight, as oxygen is heavy, but it does take a lot of volume or pressure, both of which have drawbacks.
The idea of generating hydrogen on demand avoids the drawbacks associated with storage. You can temporarily store the chemical energy in a battery until you need to use it to make hydrogen, which can then be turned into thermal energy, which (of course) is then turned into mechanical energy by the internal combustion engine. Easy peasy!
It's really hard to make the case for this...
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