It does not bode well for the electric, nor the electri-gas hybrid vehicles when Mr. Prius, Totoya’s major impetus behind that best seller recently said the technology is not viable; that it will never compete with the capabilities of a gas-powered vehicle, and that some other technology like fuel cell powered or hyrdogen powered (hydrogen stored in metal hydride pellets).
“It does not bode well for the electric, nor the electri-gas hybrid vehicles when Mr. Prius, Totoya’s major impetus behind that best seller recently said the technology is not viable; that it will never compete with the capabilities of a gas-powered vehicle, and that some other technology like fuel cell powered or hyrdogen powered (hydrogen stored in metal hydride pellets).”
First - think the Prius founder’s quote was widely misinterpreted. He was not disparaging his own product (which has now been copied by Ford and Hyundai). Instead, he pointed out that all electric and electric with gas backup (i.e. the Volt) would never succeed. The Prius (even the plug in version) is primarily a gas car, which captures wasted energy to make itself more efficient. This is very different than the Volt, and they should not be mistakenly lumped together.
Let me make you a promise concerning hydrogen. It will never, ever, in a gazillion years, power more than one percent of the vehicles on the road. Politicians and laymen love to talk about ‘hydrogen fuel cells’...that’s fine. But where on earth does hydrogen come from? You can’t just mine it like coal, oil, natural gas. So how do you get it? You use electricity to split the water molecule...at a 40% efficiency. So much for all that ‘clean burning’ talk, when you consider the source of the electricity. Or, you could use an expensive chemical process....that isn’t viable either. And if you manage to get hydrogen, there’s the whole business of using precious metals as a catalyst to store it.
So trust me, I promise, we will not have widespread hydrogen vehicles.