Car enthusiasts have a natural attraction to the hydrogen combustion engine, but does it have a future? Let’s take a closer look.
Car enthusiasts love hydrogen. For reasons that aren’t always clear, many gearheads see it as the savior of the automobile as they know it, as a viable alternative to the onslaught of electric vehicles. So what is hydrogen about? We should begin by noting that there are essentially two ways to utlize H in passenger cars: First, in fuel cell electric vehicles, which use hydrogen in an electrochemical reaction to generate electricity and power an electric motor, and next, in hydogen engines—-conventional internal combustion engines adapted to use hydrogen as fuel instead of gasoline.
We can see how the hydrogen combustion engine has tremendous appeal to traditional car enthusiasts. The hardware is friendly and familiar. That makes perfect sense. However, the actual engineering case for hydrogen ICE makes considerably less sense, and here we are sharing a video from the always knowledgeable Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained to break it down for us. At barely seven minutes, it’s well worth your time. Video below.
Zzzzzz, sorry, to most, hydrogen means “KABOOM”,,maybe if they called it something different. 100 years later, the Hindenburg still haunts us, “oh the humanity”,,,quit screwing around with these half baked transportation fixes, like electricity, and just bring out the “Miracle Chunk” of energy that lasts 6 months already,,not until we suck the Saudis dry, THEN you’ll see all the innovations.
Oh, just a fun fact about hydrogen. Did you know, on top fuel dragsters, the flames coming out the exhaust, nitromethane burns so hot, those flames are actually the hydrogen in the air burning.
Blah blah blah. While I applaud the effort to come up with alternative fuels, the truth is none of this stuff is ready enough to replace fossil fuels. In time it will be, but it is impossible to replace every ICE in use in a few short years. There’s more to it than simple transportation, there’s farm equipment, mining equipment, road building equipment, maritime uses, aircraft, etc. Those believing that all that can be replaced in a few years time by govt edic
are sadly believing the hype created by the environmentalist scare mongers. It’s a worthwhile goal, but we didn’t get where we are now in just a few years, it will take decades to replace just like it took decades to get here.
The tipping point when EVs outsell ICE in passenger vehicles will be around 2028, I predict.
It would be if BEVs were allowed to compete directly with ICE. Governments are picking winners and losers and they shouldn’t be. Politicians aren’t that smart.
If anything, the oil companies and establishment automakers are more heavily subsidized than the EV makers. They certainly have more political power and influence. EVs will dominate the market because they are superior for most drivers.
Thanks to this comparison, now I understand why the Honda Clarity was discontinued last year. It had been touted as producing only water from the tailpipe, when it actually produced high levels of nitrous oxides as well.
I’m kinda surprised I’m not hearing about Hybrid hydrogen and battery electric vehicles. Charge the car up at home, then travel until it needs re-charging, then switch to Hydrogen to supply the power, and also possibly recharge the batteries on the move.
Hi Bill, welcome to MCG, you’ll find one of the coolest sites. Not like that “other” site,,anyway, I think the only way an electric vehicle could work in a rural situation, is complete changing the battery already charged. Charging seems to be the bane of electric vehicles. While charging stations are popping up, mostly near busy highways, I almost never see them in use. That tells me, the electric cars we see driving around, are mostly for short runs, and are being charged at home. “Range anxiety” is still on most minds. I don’t know if hydrogen is viable, charging the batteries on the move won’t work either. I always thought, why not have 1 drive wheel, and the other 3 charge batteries, but that would be almost perpetual motion, and physics say, we can’t have that.