Featured Nissan freezes fuel cell car development

Nissan is part of the Nissan/Ford/Mercedes group researching this, and Ford stopped, Mercedes announced they were only going to sell to fleets that had their own refueling. Research continues as is mentioned.

That leaves Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda/GM partnership with fuel cell development. I'm sure Honda/GM would be happy to sell the Mercedes/Ford/Nissan group fuel cells if they can get them cheap enough and it lowers their costs. Those are due out in 2021. No one but Toyota seems to still thinks fuel cells are really viable in the next 5 years for cars. They definitely work for fork lifts.

 

did the cash cow dry up?

 

No, it sobered up.

 

Water in the exhaust diluted their drinks.

Bob Wilson

 

Meanwhile toyota is trying to ramp up production in 2020

Toyota Wants to Expand Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicle Production - The Drive

Of course they may just have not noticed and changed the plan from less than 3 years ago
Toyota's plans to build a hydrogen-based society | Fortune

My bet is the prius prime will outsell all of their fuel cell vehicles in 2020 and 2021.

 

Mercedes has a Hydrogen SUV coming to the USA in 2019. Europe see Hydrogen in a much more positive way then here in the USA. Hydrogen development is far from over for Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, GM. 24 Hour Lemans announced this week that in 5 years they will have a new class for Hydrogen/Hybrids.

 

Its the Tokyo Olympics and yes they plan on busses and cars. Canada did a hydrogen feature via buses in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and I expect hydrogen to be part of the 2028 LA Olympics too.

Subscribe to read | Financial Times

 

I wouldn't take that bet - even if you spotted me 20 to 1 odds.
Gotta feel sorry for poor Toyota, trying to make the (to steal a Tesla phrase) Ludicrous seem possible. They remind me of poor Charlie Brown ... still thinking Lucy will properly hold the football - thought decades show otherwise. You can't explain why they don't face the facts.


i hate to see any person or company's objective land flat on their back. Only to get up and fail again. If a house fly is trapped in your car, it continually bangs against the wind shield ... trying & trying & trying the same thing. Of course it does, it has no brain to speak of. But when people or company's do it, well that's not being absent a brain ... that's just deserving of sympathy.
sigh
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Meaningful progress usually takes a lot of resources, effort and persistence.

If new solutions came easily and without setbacks ("land flat on their back", as you'd put it), any one of us could just go to our basement and in 15 minutes return with a functioning prototype of a cold fusion reactor … or a universal anti-cancer vaccine … or a fool-proof peace plan for the next 18,000 years in the Middle East.

But I agree that the concept of hydrogen ecosystem has a couple obstacles that may never become fully overcome. Those are related to the properties of hydrogen - not of the fuel cells as a technology in general.

I wonder if we can see in near future a good progress in the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell field (DMFC). Methanol is liquid at normal conditions, so it's a lot easier and safer to transport, store and dispense than compressed hydrogen. Matter of fact, the existing gas/diesel infrastructure can be used to handle methanol without major reworking.

 

Thanks for the info - I am going to read up on the SOFC; especially interested in YSZ selectively conducting
O2- ions (I always thought this was impossible at lower - as in "much below 1000oC" - temperatures).

I have been trying to engage in a good conversation about fuel cells on another, electric propulsion-related forum, but somehow ended up "arguing" with those whose understanding of electrochemical processes and apparatus is based on Mr. Musk's tweets

 

Advocacy has to be carefully done. Over at insideev we had some who replied to pretty much every posting with something about fuel cells.

I once posted a technical review about a potable multi-voltage, multi-current EVSE only to draw a snarky comment about cables on the ground. I resisted the temptation to ask if they hover over the ground and never touch it.

Bob Wilson

 

Wouldn't be the first time when the regulations that are intended to help usher the new era in technology by tilting the playing field bring about strangely lopsided developments

Do you know what prevents Honda from sticking a larger battery and a charging port into their Clarity FCEV?

 

nothing
except cost & weight of a larger traction pack & the onboard charger - added to an already (uber subsidized) expensive car. If you add that - you may have to go heavier suspension - & bigger (expensive platinum) fuel stack to compensate for weight to power ratio.
Here's a video talking about why hydrogen car R&D has continued to be an ongoing hoax for some 4 decades +.
Bob Wilson iirc 1st posted this awhile back ;

This is why Nissan has come to their senses.
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