Are we being forced to go electric?

[icowden]

You have sh..t car if it doesn’t even guide you to a fuel station . Even my old bus can do that

So your bus, as soon as it is nearing empty, calculates how much range you have left and directs you to the nearest station with an available pump?
Very impressive!

Mine just makes a warning sound. You can spend 5 minutes tinkering with the satnav to try and find a petrol station and hope it is still there I suppose. But it's not the same.

 

[cougie uk]

The stations/filling points are there. Not many, but they do exist.
https://www.drivingelectric.com/hyd...-where-is-my-nearest-hydrogen-filling-station

There's more ev chargers in walking distance of my house than there are hydrogen filling stations in the country.

 

[cougie uk]

If hydrogen is the betamax, are electric cars the VHS2000?
Plenty poured into them, but where did it go?

A similar point was made about electric powered vehicles, years ago. Lack of charging points, against the ease of filling a petrol tank.

I don't recall anyone I knew having a VHS2000 back in the day. I do know of three EVs in the family now and I've only bought one.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Well given that the navy has nuclear powered submarines, I think I'll put my name on the waiting list for a nuclear-powered car ...

 

[classic33]

There's more ev chargers in walking distance of my house than there are hydrogen filling stations in the country.

Nothing new there. Charging points* were scarce at one point.

According to zap-map there's two, on a street that doesn't exist. Others are doubled up depending on which direction you approach them from. Using the street postcode.

All just outside the three mile range, with some private dealerships, not accessible once they close.

I'm glad I don't drive.


*Public accessible charging points.

 

[classic33]

Well given that the navy has nuclear powered submarines, I think I'll put my name on the waiting list for a nuclear-powered car ...

This one?
https://eurasiantimes.com/inside-a-...ould-travel-a-whopping-8000-km-at-one-go/?amp

 

[figbat]

Well given that the navy has nuclear powered submarines, I think I'll put my name on the waiting list for a nuclear-powered car ...

Nuclear submarines are electrically driven. They just take the power station with them.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Nuclear submarines are electrically driven. They just take the power station with them.

Range is decent

 

[KnittyNorah]

I rather fancy the Astral; I like the gyroscope concept and I could drive it along the canal as well as on the roads.

I was thinking today, as I pedalled along the canal towpath and watched the swan gliding serenely along knowing that under the water its legs and feet were going like billy-oh, why aren't there more efficient ways of travelling on water using human power?
Yes I know there is rowing your boat and paddling your own canoe (or kayak!) - sailing being impractical on a canal - but those are rather wet, splashy and primitive. I picture something vaguely like a recumbent but in a boat, and while you sit in comfort, warm and dry in a nice enclosed capsule/cockpit, coffee by your side, you are cranking quite gently on pedals which drive a paddlewheel or propeller (or something else - I know very little about efficient propulsion in water), well-shielded from the driver/rider/boater so there's no chance of getting wet.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Nuclear submarines are electrically driven. They just take the power station with them.

Yes I know, I worked in radiation physics almost all of my professional life. I want a desktop sized reactor then I can take MY power station with ME, none of that daft plugging in and waiting for the batteries to charge. In fact, I would offer plug-in-and-charge facilities (at an exorbitant rate, of course) for those unfortunates whose bog-standard EVs run out of charge in the middle of their journey; after all I'll have to do something with all that excess energy I'm generating from my uranium pellets ...

 

[classic33]

I rather fancy the Astral; I like the gyroscope concept and I could drive it along the canal as well as on the roads.

I was thinking today, as I pedalled along the canal towpath and watched the swan gliding serenely along knowing that under the water its legs and feet were going like billy-oh, why aren't there more efficient ways of travelling on water using human power?
Yes I know there is rowing your boat and paddling your own canoe (or kayak!) - sailing being impractical on a canal - but those are rather wet, splashy and primitive. I picture something vaguely like a recumbent but in a boat, and while you sit in comfort, warm and dry in a nice enclosed capsule/cockpit, coffee by your side, you are cranking quite gently on pedals which drive a paddlewheel or propeller (or something else - I know very little about efficient propulsion in water), well-shielded from the driver/rider/boater so there's no chance of getting wet.

I rather fancy the Astral; I like the gyroscope concept and I could drive it along the canal as well as on the roads.

I was thinking today, as I pedalled along the canal towpath and watched the swan gliding serenely along knowing that under the water its legs and feet were going like billy-oh, why aren't there more efficient ways of travelling on water using human power?
Yes I know there is rowing your boat and paddling your own canoe (or kayak!) - sailing being impractical on a canal - but those are rather wet, splashy and primitive. I picture something vaguely like a recumbent but in a boat, and while you sit in comfort, warm and dry in a nice enclosed capsule/cockpit, coffee by your side, you are cranking quite gently on pedals which drive a paddlewheel or propeller (or something else - I know very little about efficient propulsion in water), well-shielded from the driver/rider/boater so there's no chance of getting wet.

 

[KnittyNorah]

View attachment 628656

What's that? A Cataracycle? Or a Pedalamaran? I think we've gone off track from EVs here and maybe should start a new thread or we'll get our wrists slapped!

 

[classic33]

What's that? A Cataracycle? Or a Pedalamaran? I think we've gone off track from EVs here and maybe should start a new thread or we'll get our wrists slapped!

He put all his batteries in the right hand canoe, it's why he's leaning.

 

[gzoom]

The stations/filling points are there. Not many, but they do exist.
https://www.drivingelectric.com/hyd...-where-is-my-nearest-hydrogen-filling-station

Your link is not useful as it doesn't tell you about access or supply. The reality is there is around 6(six) hydrogen fuel stations open to the public in the whole of the UK. That number is currently DROPPING as there are hardly any hydrogen cars around.

http://www.ukh2mobility.co.uk/stations/

 

[gzoom]

A similar point was made about electric powered vehicles, years ago. Lack of charging points, against the ease of filling a petrol tank.

California has the largest functioning hydrogen fuel stations in the world along with the largest number of hydrogen cars.

Read about how things are going.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-08-10/hydrogen-highway-or-highway-to-nowhere

The reason EV charge points are relatively easy to install is because electricity is literally everywhere. Even a petrol stations needs a electricity supply to work, so adding chargers is more an issue of grid access than anything else.

Hydrogen however has zero infrastructure. Each stations costs roughly £1 million to build due to the high pressure (5000-10,000PSI) the fuel is stored at, and all the safety gear needed. You than have to fund the transport of hydrogen to the site and maintenance of the equipment.

EV rapid chargers on the other hand cost £50k each, and once connected to the grid has no on going logestic costs. There is some maintenance costs but compared a hydrogen fuel stations its peanuts.

Hydrogen as a fuel for passenger cars is already dead, it died a long time ago. The only real hope was the likes of Shell/BP would invest massively in developing a hydrogen network to save their own business plans.......but it looks like the numbers are showing something very different. BP is already making a profit from EV charging, and Shell has just built its first EV only service station. If in the next 12 months Shell and BP can make the numbers balance on a big scale for EV charging, it really is game over for hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars.

https://www.reuters.com/business/en...overtake-pumps-profitability-race-2022-01-14/