Tråd: Batteri bil er død: længe leve brændselscelle

Erhvervslivet og akademiske har alle, men opgivet på batteri-drevne biler og forbereder vejen for brint bliver fremtidens brændstof. Min kollega James Ruppert vil være glad for at høre, at i går, i kælderen af Institute of Civil Engineers, havde jeg en automotive åbenbaring. Jeg var på et møde i whats kaldet UKH2Mobility, en paraply navn for en statsstøttet indsamling af industrien og den akademiske verden, som alle arbejder på at gøre brint en alvorlig brændstof i fremtiden.
Michael Fallon, regeringen Business og Enterprise minister, gjorde beroligende lyde ca 400m i offentlige midler bliver brugt til, øh, olie hjulene i den fremtidige brint brændstof netværk. Penge vil også blive brugt for at sikre, at det Forenede Kongerige er ved at udvikle de teknologier, der er nødvendige for en gradvis overgang til biler drevet af brændselsceller.
Ja jeg ved. Vi har hørt det hele før. Fagre nye lav-CO2-verden og alt det der. Men det var bare en smid-væk bemærkning af Toyotas Akihito tanksk, at elbiler ikke var blevet modtaget af offentligheden samt havde håbet.
Det var dengang, at jeg indså, at bilindustrien har stort set givet op med batteri-drevet, selvom det ikke er elektrisk drevne biler. Langsom EV salg i USA - hvilket var forventet at være en stor tidlig adoptant marked - har venstre chefer med et dyrt sug i maven. Lige under 15.000 og Evt var flyttet i 2012, er en forsvindende lille procent af den 14m nye biler, der kom på de AMERIKANSKE veje.
Ive nu talt med nok folk i branchen til at indse, at EV aldrig vil blive en alvorlig kraft i markedet. Og Ive personligt oplevet grunde hvorfor da jeg kørte en Nissan Leaf langsigtede test bil.
Først, kan du ændre dit sind. Jeg jagende i retning af Gatwick, sent for en flyvning. Forventer at gå glip af det, troede jeg, jeg ville finde en flyrejse fra en anden lufthavn. Men bladet kunne ikke få mig til Luton eller Stansted. For det andet, den frygtelige område i koldt vejr var et alvorligt problem. På en snedækket weekend faldet det til kun 41 miles på en fuld opladning. Jeg får den forstand, at dette spørgsmål er drab EV overalt uden for Orange County.
Ved første øjekast, kan du sige det samme om den længe lovede brint revolution. Men jeg hørte nogle meget spændende idéer på konferencen. Dets fordrede at en brændselscelle er to gange så energieffektive som en konventionel motor og brændstof for en 300 mile rækkevidde bør tage tre minutter. Et netværk af brændstofsystem stationer vil være sammenrullet ud langs landets travleste ruter.
Det blev også påpeget over for mig, at opladningen, selv tre eller fire el-biler, der sætter en enorm belastning på det lokale el-net, som kan kræve dyrt at opgradere. Brint, derimod, vil være sin egen, skræddersyede, der giver næring netværk.
Det kan arbejde? Nå, Ive havde den lykke at køre en række brændselsceller køretøjer (herunder Merc B-klasse og Honda FCX, som jeg kørte til Londons City Hall) og de er et tvingende proposition. Ligesom alle elektrisk drevne køretøjer er hurtig, glat, torquey og meget raffineret. Kiggede på lige fra en drivende synspunkt, er elektrisk drevne biler et mål absolut værd at forfølge.
Weve fik et godt årti tilbage af forbrændingsmotorer engine regerende supreme. Som en UKH2Mobility delegeret sætte det til mig, 2025 sidste dråbe af energieffektiviteten vil blevet vredet fra konventionelle forbrændingsmotorer og verden virkelig vil være klar til et spring ind i fremtiden. Men det vil ikke medføre batteri-drevne biler.

Industry and academe have all but given up on battery-powered cars and are preparing the way for Hydrogen to become the fuel of the future. My colleague James Ruppert will be pleased to hear that yesterday, in the basement of the Institute of Civil Engineers, I had an automotive revelation. I was at a meeting of whats called UKH2Mobility, an umbrella name for a government-sponsored gathering of industry and academia, all of whom are working to make Hydrogen a serious fuel of the future.
Michael Fallon, the government Business and Enterprise minister, made soothing noises about 400m in public money being used to, er, oil the wheels of the future Hydrogen fuel network. The money will also be used to make sure that the UK is developing the technologies needed for a gradual switch to cars powered by fuel cells.
Yeah, I know. Weve heard it all before. Brave new low-Co2 world and all that. However, it was just a throw-away remark by Toyotas Akihito Tanke that electric cars had not been received by the public as well as had been hoped.
It was then that I realised the car industry has pretty much given up with battery-powered - though not electrically-driven - cars. Slow EV sales in the US - which was expected to be a big early-adopter market - have left bosses with an expensive sinking feeling. Just under 15,000 EVs were shifted in 2012, a vanishing small percent of the 14m new cars that arrived on the US roads.
Ive now spoken to enough people in the industry to realise that the EV is never going to become a serious force in the market. And Ive personally experienced the reasons why when I ran a Nissan Leaf long-term test car.
First, you cant change your mind. I was hurtling towards Gatwick, late for a flight. Expecting to miss it, I thought I would find a flight from another airport. But the Leaf couldnt get me to Luton or Stansted. Secondly, the terrible range in cold weather was a serious problem. On a snowy weekend it dropped to just 41 miles on a full charge. I get the sense that this issue is killing the EV anywhere outside Orange County.
At first glance, you might say the same for the long-promised Hydrogen revolution. But I heard some very intriguing ideas at the conference. Its claimed that a fuel cell is twice as energy-efficient as a conventional engine and refuelling for a 300-mile range should take three minutes. A network of fuelling stations will be rolled out along the countrys busiest routes.
It was also pointed out to me that charging even three or four electric cars puts a huge load on the local power network, which might require expensive upgrading. Hydrogen, by contrast, will be its own, bespoke, fuelling network.
Can it work? Well, Ive had the fortune to drive a number of fuel cells vehicles (including the Merc B-Class and the Honda FCX, which I drove to Londons City Hall) and they are a compelling proposition. Like all electrically-driven vehicles, they are quick, smooth, torquey and very refined. Looked at just from a driving point of view, electrically-driven cars are a goal absolutely worth pursuing.
Weve got a good decade left of the internal combustion engine reigning supreme. As one UKH2Mobility delegate put it to me, by 2025 every last drop of energy efficiency will have been wrung from conventional internal combustion engines and the world really will be ready for a leap into the future. But it wont involve battery-powered cars.