xkcd

8791 readers

75 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

1103

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

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

733 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 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?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 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.