Hydrogen Power? Not So Fast!

For one reason or another, some people are fiercely opposed to electric cars, contending that converting the current network would be too drastic and that it would be much easier to transition to hydrogen.

Hydrogen-powered cars also have electric motors, but unlike electric cars, which power their motors using electricity from the batteries, they use hydrogen gas that has been compressed on board to generate electricity.

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When your hydrogen tank runs empty, just stop at a gas station to fill up. It’s that simple. No need for a major system overhaul; it’s just a matter of adding hydrogen filling stations to existing gas stations.

But not so fast...

Installing these devices isn’t as easy as it sounds, and that’s not the only problem. The real hiccup in this plan lies at the very heart of the hydrogen-powered car itself: hydrogen.

There’s hydrogen everywhere. As the most abundant element in the universe, we don’t have to worry about where to find it. However, it has to be chemically separated and compressed, as hydrogen is rarely found in a pure state.

The environmental costs associated with extracting, shipping and compressing hydrogen make it three times less efficient from an ecological standpoint than pure electricity. In other words, even though hydrogen is cleaner than gasoline, exploiting it is not as sustainable as the electric alternative.

While Toyota and Honda are getting into hydrogen, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi, to name but four, are following in the tracks of Tesla and Chevrolet by sticking with electricity.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have some good qualities, but electric cars are much more like to save our civilization.