Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars 'V' Electric Cars. Which will Reign Supreme ?
This week a consortium including ITM Power, Shell, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai has won ￡8.8 million in funding from the Department for Transport to expand the UK network of hydrogen refuelling stations.
Roads Minister Jesse Norman said: “Decarbonising our roads is an essential part of meeting our climate targets. The innovative new technologies involved present great opportunities for our increasingly low carbon economy. Hydrogen has huge potential, especially for those making longer journeys and clocking up high mileage".
In contrast Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has made repeated disparaging remarks about HFC vehicles, calling them “extremely silly,” “incredibly dumb,” “mind-bogglingly stupid,” and, most succinctly, “bullshit.”
Amazon's Jeff Bezos is betting big that hydrogen will win. Rumours are spreading that Amazon has been buying big into Hydrogen.
Jon Hunt, manager of Toyota and Lexus fleet marketing has said about Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars “As the vehicle also has all the advantages of quick refuelling and zero emissions, it is the most convenient and future proof technology available.”
The Europe boss of Lexus, Alain Uyttenhoven has said that Lexus are going forward with their plans for HFC cars.
Daimler AG head Dieter Zetsche has said that hydrogen fuel cells are no longer a major part of the automaker’s plans for the future.
Its claimed that Britain is to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health. Think tank suggestions are that this should be brought forward a decade to 2030. However experts are claiming that this would place unprecedented strain on the National Grid.
Certainly the gloves are off and leaves the question "What will power the cars of the future" un-answered.
picture credits:Volker Blandow, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mariordo