Is it surprising that there is little discussion on this site on in the Detroit media about vehicles propelled by hydrogen fuel cells? The Detroit News reported this week, the Deutsche Bahn is now running local trains in Saxony powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Friends have told me that some cars are now propelled by hydrogen fuel cells in Japan and some buses in South Korea. As I understand it – and I do know very little – when the fuel cell is supplied with hydrogen and oxygen and attached to an appropriate anode, it will produce electricity which supplies an electric motor propelling the vehicle.
One advantage is that hydrogen, I believe, can readily be produced and the range of a vehicle propelled by a hydrogen fuel cell and an electric motor will be 1000 k or more. The only by-product is water.
There is a long history of manufacturing electric cars here in Detroit. Detroit Electric produced about 13,000 cars between 1907 and 1942. A couple of years ago someone tried to resurrect that company to produce new electric cars while capitalizing on the reputation of Detroit Electric but I have heard nothing about that endeavor recently.
Are there two disadvantages to fuel cell/electric vehicles? First, they produce water as a by-product of the generation of electricity. If most of us drove such cars or traveled on fuel cell trains would the humidity change upsetting the environment? I doubt it but I know little.
Second, the number of people who clearly remember the fairly recent event in northern New Jersey when the Hindenburg, with its load of hydrogen fuel, had a tragic accident leading to the deaths of more than 30 people is declining. However, some competitors could popularize the erroneous idea the hydrogen explodes easily.
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