US Cross Country Trailmanor Gas $ problem / solutions

[Kmikesell]

Originally Posted by Bill

This is a significant handicap in my mind. This will be a tough hurdle for the industry to overcome. Today, electric trucks have significant towing capacity - but not for very far.

Bill

Yeah my thoughts exactly. Also I haven't seen the "dog bone" that would allow you to recharge at any 120V outlet. (I'm sure they exist, but I am unaware). And as stated b4 the recharge time could be significant.

As I tell my friends who sing the praises of electric cars (Althouh I think the Tesla is one BA vehicle) You don't have an electriclly powered car.... You have a dead dinosaur powered car.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Bill

...

This is a significant handicap in my mind. This will be a tough hurdle for the industry to overcome. Today, electric trucks have significant towing capacity - but not for very far.

Bill

I believe the future is in the hydrogen fuel cell. Once they can get a reliable source of hydrogen and a hydrogen network, refueling will be quick. One big hangup is getting a reliable "green" source of hydrogen (not from natural gas), and getting a hydrogen network established.

The production of the batteries for electric cars is actually quite damaging to the environment: worse carbon footprint than the internal combustion engine, mining of minerals is causing terrible damage to the environment. I'm not trying to say electric cars are worse than the gasoline powered vehicles, just that they're not as "green" as many seem to believe.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I believe the future is in the hydrogen fuel cell. Once they can get a reliable source of hydrogen and a hydrogen network, refueling will be quick. One big hangup is getting a reliable "green" source of hydrogen (not from natural gas), and getting a hydrogen network established.

The production of the batteries for electric cars is actually quite damaging to the environment: worse carbon footprint than the internal combustion engine, mining of minerals is causing terrible damage to the environment. I'm not trying to say electric cars are worse than the gasoline powered vehicles, just that they're not as "green" as many seem to believe.

Agree 100%

[Kmikesell]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I believe the future is in the hydrogen fuel cell. Once they can get a reliable source of hydrogen and a hydrogen network, refueling will be quick. One big hangup is getting a reliable "green" source of hydrogen (not from natural gas), and getting a hydrogen network established.

The production of the batteries for electric cars is actually quite damaging to the environment: worse carbon footprint than the internal combustion engine, mining of minerals is causing terrible damage to the environment. I'm not trying to say electric cars are worse than the gasoline powered vehicles, just that they're not as "green" as many seem to believe.

Yeah.... I also agree. Saw an atricle that mentions using wind or solar to "crack" water to get hydrogen, an interesting concept.

Kory

[Tymanthius]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Actually, that is not correct. 100A (or whatever) from a Tesla charger is NOT 2x as much power as the 50A service from an RV park. It's twice as much current, yes, but when talking about battery capacity, or the capability to do work (run your car), you need to compare watts.

Ohms law says power = current x voltage, and so a critical missing piece of info here is voltage. Voltage at all RV parks is 120 volts. Voltage at Tesla chargers is at least 240V, and may even be higher at fast chargers (480V?). So those chargers are able to deliver the same power 2x-4x faster than a charger that would run off 120V at an RV park if the current was the SAME at both places.

Dave

Thanks for that! I completely forgot that the voltages would be different! Shame on me!!!

[JohnMD]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I believe the future is in the hydrogen fuel cell. Once they can get a reliable source of hydrogen and a hydrogen network, refueling will be quick. One big hangup is getting a reliable "green" source of hydrogen (not from natural gas), and getting a hydrogen network established.

The production of the batteries for electric cars is actually quite damaging to the environment: worse carbon footprint than the internal combustion engine, mining of minerals is causing terrible damage to the environment. I'm not trying to say electric cars are worse than the gasoline powered vehicles, just that they're not as "green" as many seem to believe.

Add me to those who agree with this. I've read some interesting and promising articles, but am disappointed that I don't hear more about this and most people I speak with have never heard of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

[Kmikesell]

Hydrogen fuel cells and thorium reactors...

Kory

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by JohnMD

Add me to those who agree with this. I've read some interesting and promising articles, but am disappointed that I don't hear more about this and most people I speak with have never heard of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Hydrogen cell cars are "da bomb!!"

I just hope that hydrogen becomes reasonable to buy.

.
That's one of the reasons that I haven't put solar on my house. I'd rather plug my house into my car's fuel cell than plug my battery/electric car into my house.

A decent size fuel cell will power an entire home easily.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Bill

...
Hydrogen fuel itself comes with its own set of major challenges. Perhaps the biggest is that unlike propane (for example), hydrogen at room temperature can't be liquified at any reasonable pressure. That means you have to maintain it at very low temperatures, often not far above absolute zero. Think about what this means for your neighborhood service station. No longer can they drop a thin steel or plastic tank into the ground. The tank must be very strong, and highly insulated, and may need a cryogenic refrigerator on site to keep the temp low. And of course you have to do the same thing in your car. Putting a tank like that in your car is a major undertaking - think of the size, weight and cost of such a tank.
...
Bill

There is a lot of recent research going into storage of hydrogen by absorption, that is, storing hydrogen gas in a solid matrix. There is probably a ways to go with this, but it solves the problem of having to store it at ultra low temperatures. Also, if a tank does rupture, not all the hydrogen leaks out at once where it could potentially combust, making it much safer.

Bill's right about the amount of electrical energy it would take to make hydrogen from water. I envisage huge hydrogen production farms in the middle of oceans around the equator continually using solar panels to make the electricity to make hydrogen. Solar panels are not nearly efficient enough yet to make this feasible though, as far as I know. And then you have the durability of these solar panels bobbing around in the middle of the ocean, hurricanes, typhoons, etc etc. So, my vision is probably a pipe dream.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Wavery

Hydrogen cell cars are "da bomb!!"

I just hope that hydrogen becomes reasonable to buy.

.
That's one of the reasons that I haven't put solar on my house. I'd rather plug my house into my car's fuel cell than plug my battery/electric car into my house.

A decent size fuel cell will power an entire home easily.

https://www.ballard.com/fuel-cell-so...-power-systems

They're located in Burnaby, practically in my back yard. I'm sure they'll send one UPS to your front door.