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Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

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Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#61

I have an acquaintance who has made a substantial fortune from energy focused startups (including a battery tech one) and is now working on another hard tech startup and they are very critical of hydrogen as a fuel. I’ve had superficial conversations with them about it but could never get a sense of their fundamental arguments. Is hydrogen a non starter or are they just protecting their investments with FUD?

Here a few major issues hydrogen would need to solve. * There isn't a fuel distribution system. The reason BEVs work is because everywhere has power, setting up power distribution is generally just plugging into the local grid. * Hydrogen escapes any container it's placed in. That's a pretty hard thing to deal with. Most approaches have looked at chemically binding hydrogen to something in order to keep it from escap…

> So why do major companies like Toyota love hydrogen? Because it doesn't require them to make any major changes to their fleet.

Toyota Mirai (their hydrogen powered car) is fuel cell vehicle, it uses hydrogen to power electric motors.

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#63
> “I was constantly checking the Nexo’s efficiency readout to maximise the distance I was getting per kilogram of hydrogen. I found that by using techniques from rally driving, such as looking as far down the road as possible, as well as tips I have learned from my dad for driving a truck efficiently over long distances, it’s actually possible to go way beyond Nexo’s official range.”

Anyone have some insights on this? The efficient driving tips that is?

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#64

Hydrogen fuel is still a fossil fuel byproduct right? I’m not sure what the point of this is. It sure doesn’t seem like a green technology at this point.

Presumably it'll eventually be made by splitting water using electricity from renewable sources.

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#65
post #12

Since “tank” isn’t a unit of measure, I suppose anyone could trivially break the record with a larger tank. From the article: > The Nexo consumed 6.27kg of H2 For comparison with the other production H2 cars: Toyota Mirai: 5.6kg Honda Clarity: 5.0kg Seems like a promising technology. My understanding is that the current blocker is infrastructure. It’s hard to pressurize up to 10,000 PSI, so many facilities are only a…

10,000PSI hydraulics are rapidly becoming cookie cutter commodity parts. Once you have the supply chain for all the little crap that nickles and dimes you the rest is a lot cheaper. Having industry expertise at working at those pressures really has a huge multiplier effect on everything else. Building a system to plumb stuff from A to B at a pressure nobody uses is expensive. Calling up a sales rep and asking for sli…

I can picture how the conversation would go. There's some pretty big differences between hydrogen and hydraulic fluid, probably to the point of whole component redesign. The little crap here (springs and o-rings) would be completely different.

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#66

Hydrogen fuel is still a fossil fuel byproduct right? I’m not sure what the point of this is. It sure doesn’t seem like a green technology at this point.

It is, but it doesn't have to be. It is possible to make H2 from H20 and sunlight. At the moment there is little market for such "green" hydrogen but the hope is that hydrogen-based transportation will create that market.

Imho I cannot afford to be a market leaders in this field. Until H2 is available everywhere, including at remote locations during Canadian winters, I'll have to stick to gas stations. (I have yet to see any electric car that can handle -50*c.)

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#67

> “I was constantly checking the Nexo’s efficiency readout to maximise the distance I was getting per kilogram of hydrogen. I found that by using techniques from rally driving, such as looking as far down the road as possible, as well as tips I have learned from my dad for driving a truck efficiently over long distances, it’s actually possible to go way beyond Nexo’s official range.” Anyone have some insights on this…

Hypermiling is almost a sport at this point.

https://electrek.co/2018/07/16/tesla-model-3-autopilot-unman...

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#68
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10,000PSI hydraulics are rapidly becoming cookie cutter commodity parts. Once you have the supply chain for all the little crap that nickles and dimes you the rest is a lot cheaper. Having industry expertise at working at those pressures really has a huge multiplier effect on everything else. Building a system to plumb stuff from A to B at a pressure nobody uses is expensive. Calling up a sales rep and asking for sli…

I can picture how the conversation would go. There's some pretty big differences between hydrogen and hydraulic fluid, probably to the point of whole component redesign. The little crap here (springs and o-rings) would be completely different.

You're not wrong but "can you make hose X with material Y" or "can I get valve body P with spring rate Q" is a hell of a lot better than "we need custom hoses" or "is this casting good to 10kpsi?".

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#69

I have an acquaintance who has made a substantial fortune from energy focused startups (including a battery tech one) and is now working on another hard tech startup and they are very critical of hydrogen as a fuel. I’ve had superficial conversations with them about it but could never get a sense of their fundamental arguments. Is hydrogen a non starter or are they just protecting their investments with FUD?

Here a few major issues hydrogen would need to solve. * There isn't a fuel distribution system. The reason BEVs work is because everywhere has power, setting up power distribution is generally just plugging into the local grid. * Hydrogen escapes any container it's placed in. That's a pretty hard thing to deal with. Most approaches have looked at chemically binding hydrogen to something in order to keep it from escap…

> You can get a lot more miles out of the basic combustion engine design

Why would there be a combustion engine in a hydrogen car? I expect that there would be a fuel cell powering electric motors. Are there other ways to use hydrogen in cars, other than fuel cell? I'm not an expert.

Re: Hyundai Nexo sets new world record 887.5 km travelled on single tank of hydrogen

#70

> “I was constantly checking the Nexo’s efficiency readout to maximise the distance I was getting per kilogram of hydrogen. I found that by using techniques from rally driving, such as looking as far down the road as possible, as well as tips I have learned from my dad for driving a truck efficiently over long distances, it’s actually possible to go way beyond Nexo’s official range.” Anyone have some insights on this…

Yeah, nowadays it is part of the course when getting driving license (here in Sweden).

Economical driving is an important factor when taking the test eventually after the courses too. It is one of the 5 big factors you need to pass.

As it is mentioned above, you need to look far and plan ahead, do engine braking, let it roll on its own if it is redlights etc etc.

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