Lotus is the latest automaker to fall for extended-range plug-in hybrids
Lotus is the latest automaker to fall for extended-range plug-in hybrids
Lotus is abandoning its strategy to become an all-electric brand by 2028 and shifting over to extended-range plug-in hybrid models starting in 2026.
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Wish we could get some investment in hydrogen infrastructure. Would really do more to fill the gap where pure EV’s can’t cut it.
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Hydrogen is a non-starter.
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Why?
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Producing it by cracking water is energetically inefficient and cracking petroleum feedstocks just makes Hydrogen a needlessly expensive kind of fossil fuel. Storage is also nigh-impossible on anything other than short timescales as hydrogen leaks through literally any gasket or seal, and storing any significant quantity can only be done in it's liquid form, which must be kept under high pressure and/or low temperature to remain liquid.
Hydrogen is a boondoggle for automotive purposes, and only remains viable in the rocket industry for one application (upper stage motors) due to the high specific impulse of its exhaust products.
Oh, and don't get me started on metallic hydrates as a storage medium. Fuel tanks that weigh more than the fuel they carry are never going to be viable.
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I mostly agree with you but not entirely. I do think there’s a feasible path to hydrogen being useful in several applications. I don’t think cars are good, but airplanes, trains, and trucks are bigger possibilities.
I do think to make sense we would have to do thermochemical cogeneration with nuclear power plants. This has the nice benefit of significantly increasing the overall efficiency of the nuclear power plants, increasing overall efficiency from the 33% realm to around 50% with cogeneration seems possible, and that use of waste energy helps to offset the worse efficiency downstream. Combined with applications where the weight of batteries is problematic, and you have some potential for success
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Toyota seems to believe it’s viable. And while the electrolysis is inefficient, it’s clean and works in more scenarios than batteries will.
The efficiencies of EV battery claims never seem to address the issues of batteries functioning in extreme heat or cold, and as climate change ramps up that’s going to be more and more people in those conditions.
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I'm not saying that there won't be niche applications like long-haul ice road trucking or zero-emission Nascar races where it could make more sense than batteries, but in general terms Toyota is merely hedging its bets on the vain hope that they can develop a better storage medium before their niche is taken over by compressed liquid petroleum gas powered cars (fartburners).
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The situations need not be that extreme to warrant consideration. EV batteries are exploding in the heat of Florida summers, and the batteries barely work in northern winters.
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