Japanese automakers sure screwed themselves over by only betting hard on hydrogen. The fuel’s limitations were so easy to see early on in the development of the tech. I feel bad for all the workers suffering from the stupid decisions their leaders took.
It was absolutely a way to show they were working on green technologies that likely wouldn’t pan out. There was very little adoption in the mid-2000s and they persisted over a decade later trying to push the same fuel with no infrastructure in place. It was designed to flop.
Two things. Hydrogen is mostly refined from hydrocarbons at the moment so it basically doesn’t break dependency on fossil fuels. I know greener alternatives like electrolysis is a thing but it’s far more energy intensive a process. The second thing is that the hydrogen molecule is tiny. It can easily leak out of containers and lines which not only causes gradual fuel loss but can pose a significant fire hazard.
Japanese automakers sure screwed themselves over by only betting hard on hydrogen. The fuel’s limitations were so easy to see early on in the development of the tech. I feel bad for all the workers suffering from the stupid decisions their leaders took.
I half felt that hydrogen was some sort of red herring to get green subsidies without encouraging competition.
Probably a bit tin foil hat of me.
It was absolutely a way to show they were working on green technologies that likely wouldn’t pan out. There was very little adoption in the mid-2000s and they persisted over a decade later trying to push the same fuel with no infrastructure in place. It was designed to flop.
Yeah it always surprised me that a country with so many nuclear power stations would not go head first into electric cars
That was the Japanese government pushing a national industrial agenda.
What limitations were you thinking of?
Two things. Hydrogen is mostly refined from hydrocarbons at the moment so it basically doesn’t break dependency on fossil fuels. I know greener alternatives like electrolysis is a thing but it’s far more energy intensive a process. The second thing is that the hydrogen molecule is tiny. It can easily leak out of containers and lines which not only causes gradual fuel loss but can pose a significant fire hazard.
Thank you!