Life’s a gas

I think WDB was onto something, a Saturn V rocket would actually make more sense than any car, especially over an EV.

Saturn V gross weight at takeoff was ~2.2m kgs, max. payload delivered ~140,000kgs which is around 6.3% of gross vehicle weight.
Little Billy being delivered to school by SUV ? An EV SUV has a GVW of ~3 metric tonnes, let's say little Billy is around 11 and weighs 50kgs that's a payload % of GVW of 1.6% compared with a medium sized family car of GVW 1.6 metric tonnes 3.1%.

That Saturn V is starting to look pretty good.

Amazing what selective man maths can throw out.

It is.  But hydrogen as a fuel for cars has been thoroughly discussed, thoroughly investigated, and thoroughly debunked as even a remote possibility or even remotely desirable, versus BEVs, which are a far, far better answer.

So as soon as any other alternatives spring up, let's do it.  But hydrogen is an utter dead end.  [Insert Monty Python dead parrot sketch here]

What I struggle to understand is this desperation to cling onto the same fueling paradigm as petrol/diesel, when BEVs are pretty much the same in any case.  Go to fuel station, grab hose, stick in car, wait for fuel to dispense, continue journey.  Sure, it takes a few more minutes in a BEV than an ICE, currently.  But not only is that gap closing, but the other advantage of BEV, namely the fact that most owners will most of the time charge at home, thereby, overall, saving time fueling your vehicle over the course of, say, a year, is never considered by those who wish to keep pushing the "ICE fueling paradigm must be saved at all costs" narrative.

I've only kept on with ICE for my long distance vehicle at the moment, because there isn't a BEV with the right characteristics at my budget at the moment.  That's not an eternal state of affairs.  I expect my latest ICE to be my last.

Or, maybe there has been some development(s) which we are not aware of at this time ? A bit like your waiting for improvements in charging efficiencies example. Throwing ever increasing kW numbers at a chemical factory in the car has a finite limit. That limit is already close if not reached when comparing the life of an EV battery charged solely on a diet of super fast charging verses AC charging.

I can't see Toyota, BMW and whoever else throwing money down a dead end because they have too much cash and are looking for a financial tax break via R&D. A passenger car might not be the final product though it may provide a vehicle (pun intended) to get to whatever they are looking for. Cars are just a small part of Toyota the global entity.

I'm not sure batteries, in the conventional EV sense, would be a consideration. A relatively small surplus to accommodate instant demand or store relatively small regenerated energy would possibly be a requirement otherwise, the energy is already stored in the car in the fuel cell ready to be converted to service the need.

Just blowing smoke, it's Friday.

P.S. what would we do with all the salt by-product from the sea water ? Yet more pollution. 😁

…or into sodium ion batteries. Or as a phase-change material in thermal batteries.

This group does good work on calling out the vested interests in the energy transition — and those who would derail it.
www.desmog.com/mapping-hydrogen-lobby/

Thanks for that link WDB, some interesting reading to be done.

Years ago, maybe 25, i remember reading about negotiations and contracts for new power stations. The rate at the time I want to remember as being £48/Gw. Contracts were being agreed and signed to build additional capacity provided the rate was £96/Gw. Wish i could remember the source. My point is markets and consumables e.g. energy, regardless of what it is, has lobbyists, PR and politicians behind it pushing on behalf of someone or something for money. It's how our world works.