Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Fuel cell technology

Hydrogen is used in fuel cells in which there are no moving parts. Perhaps unlike some early experiments they don't actually burn the gas in an internal combustion engine. Well I suppose there are metering valve systems and in a car or a plane there will be electric motors but there are no more lubrication issues than there would be in a battery electric vehicle (BEV) .

No doubt fuel cell systems will still have some lithium batteries but they will be much smaller/lighter than those used in a BEV. These planes would have very limited flight times if they had to carry the weight of batteries necessary to fly on battery power alone. My feeling is that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) will be generally much lighter and more efficient than BEVs.

Many times people have noted the near impossibility of providing sufficient charging points in city areas for BEVs. With distribution to current fuel outlets and the short refuelling time of FCEVs that problem goes away, as does range anxiety. In the next few years we will see the cost of FCEVs coming down to match existing car prices or at least that of BEVs and at the same time the number of refuelling points and distribution will ramp up.

It also has to be said that it may be time that a general rethink of car ownership and usage is in order. Because of cars (and in part the lack of an efficient public transport system) we now travel further to work, shop etc. Perhaps it is time for small local stores to make a comeback (we have got into the habit of shopping locally with the covid lockdown and now rarely go to large commercial centres). Smart working helps but not for everyone. In the old days most people worked not far from home but this has been destroyed by mega industry so perhaps industriali need to consider ways of catering to staff travel needs and perhaps look at distributing manufacturing to smaller more local factories. It just requires a different mindset in order to develop effecient systems on a more human level.

Lots of information available. Have a look at https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/fuel_cell.html