Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) EV Journey

The major problem that hydrogen has is in efficiency, especially if you burn it.

If you take electricity, use it to crack water to get hydrogen, and then burn it in an ICE engine the efficiency is really low, about 25%. It's better if you use Fuel Cells, it can get up to 40 to 60%, but then fuel cell life is much lower than electric motors. When you add in the costs of transporting hydrogen to fuelling points the cost/benefit analysis gets even worse.

The efficiency of putting electricity into batteries and then powering EVs is much higher, at around 80 - 90%, which is why they are attracting more development investment than hydrogen vehicles.

There are use cases where the efficiency argument doesn't count for so much, most notably Heavy plant/earthmoving and heavy goods transport, but for personal transport the sums don't add up for most people. Imagine having to pay 4 times as much per mile for a hydrogen vehicle over a BEV.

Efficiency is less important than cost, and cost has 2 dimensions here: production/transport/storage cost, and planetary/CO2 cost. Hydrogen produced by wind/solar when producing beyond other demand is "free", and burning H / running H through a fuel cell is planet-friendly. But the latter really needs the former, and there does not seem to be much action on that at a political level.

I do note there are a few domestic solutions appearing - eg https://www.homepowersolutions.de/en/product/ so maybe there is hope after all!

More than you may think - they are subsidising 2nd hand EV adoption!

Mechanical Engineering World · Follow
21 February at 17:33 ·
A groundbreaking study suggests Earth may harbor an immense, untapped energy source—trillions of tons of hydrogen gas hidden deep beneath the surface.
Even more remarkable? It could power the world for centuries.
Research led by Geoffrey Ellis of the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that geologic hydrogen reserves total approximately 6.2 trillion tons (5.6 trillion metric tons), offering a potential low-carbon energy source that could reduce global dependence on fossil fuels for the next 1,000 years.
This naturally occurring hydrogen forms through geochemical reactions within the Earth's crust. While significant reserves have already been found in Albania and Mali, scientists believe vast deposits exist worldwide. However, much of this hydrogen may be buried too deep or located offshore, posing challenges for large-scale extraction.
A study published in Science Advances suggests that even extracting just 2% of these reserves could supply the world's hydrogen needs for 200 years, contributing to global net-zero carbon goals. The estimated energy potential of these reserves surpasses all proven natural gas deposits, reinforcing hydrogen’s promise as a clean energy alternative.
Despite this potential, experts like Prof. Bill McGuire of University College London caution that developing the necessary infrastructure for large-scale hydrogen extraction would require massive global investment. Nevertheless, the findings highlight the urgency of further research into geologic hydrogen, which could play a pivotal role in the transition to sustainable energy.

For those interested in technological advance, You might find interest in a Harry`s Garage vid on electrified performance boosting of an ICE, all be it in a 911 derivative, not just a real world assessment of the way it handles but some reasonably detailed insight too, along with Harry`s own personal thinking on the concept.

If interested, it is available on You Tube

Porsche 911 GTS t-hybrid revue, is this the future..?

Did not want to post a vid in this section..

These guys are developing some very deep drilling technology, as well as another energy source:

https://www.quaise.energy/

Good read Jon, Eden Project are using a fair bit of Geothermal and are further developing the system for others to benefit, not on this kind of scale though and it doesn't need to be.
Looking ahead there will be different solutions largely dependent on your geography I think but I find it encouraging that people are taking the future seriously now and are no longer viewed as vanity projects or vote catchers.

Honda like JCB are making great strides into the future use of hydrogen.

That's bloody excellent news, especially if Honda have cracked the longevity issue that's been problematic for earlier HFC designs. I'm still not convinced about its applicability for many private motor cars, but that's not a problem, we don't need a single 'one size fits all' solution. As the article says the implications for HGV, static power gen, and marine/aerospace are potentially a game changer.

I see it as very encouraging and now maybe have a little better understanding of why Honda and Nissan have been courting of late.

Another agreement that Honda (Cells) have going (long term) is with GM in the States and they are making good progress and the GM side in particular are producing portable (trailer sized) Hydrogen cells capable of producing up to 100kW for plug in EV's in remote arears which of course needs addressing quickly for sales of cars to progress on the bigger continents, out with the financial problems of folk affording one in the first instance but it will come in time.

I can't see one in the South Hams yet a while..