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xkcd #2948: Electric vs Gas (xkcd.com)

submitted 6 months ago by schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

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Alt text:

An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that's the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.

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[–] Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I dunno, I've never looked into them. How do they stack up against electric motors in everything else, and is the hydrogen expensive to get?

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 months ago

The comment you're replying to is deleted, but from your comment I assume it was about hydrogen as fuel?

Hydrogen fueled vehicles are generally electric, using a hydrogen fuel cell, rather than being internal combustion using a hydrogen engine. Compared to battery electric, hydrogen has the benefit of fast refueling and higher energy density, but has the drawback of difficult storage and lack of refuelling infrastructure.

As a vehicle fuel, I think hydrogen does have a future, but only in commercial/industrial, particularly shipping. Semis already have predictable routes and stops/depots, and building hydrogen refuelling stations into those depots wouldn't be too complicated.

Hydrogen passenger vehicles, with gas stations being replaced with hydrogen stations, will never happen.