The first steam-powered vehicles started appearing in the 17th century
which led to the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation.
Over time,
inventors began to develop some of the first internal combustion engines by the 19th century.
Eventually, by 1826, the first industrially applied internal combustion engine was tested,
and by 1876, the first gasoline-fueled, four-stroke cycle engine was built in Germany.
And by the 1890s, motor cars reached their modern stage of development.
The models of that decade were so successful that there has been no fundamental
change in the principles of the ordinary automobile engine since then.
But using gasoline and diesel emits a lot of carbon and other toxic gases into the atmosphere.
Not only is gasoline and diesel bad for the environment, but they are
also extracted from fossil fuels that are eventually going to run out.
So far, the most prominent solution to this comes in the form of electric-powered vehicles.
But they too have their limitations when it comes to driving range.
Most electric vehicles only offer about half the range
when compared to their fossil fuel counterparts.
So, to improve some of these conditions,
some inventors have turned to hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Today, we will be discussing how hydrogen-powered vehicles differ
from conventional vehicles and the prominent electric-powered vehicles.
But as always be sure to subscribe to our channel for more content ahead!
Hydrogen-powered vehicles use hydrogen to power an electric motor as the name implies.
So instead of harnessing energy from natural resources
and transferring it to a central battery as is the case for regular electric cars,
hydrogen cars rely on hydrogen being converted into electricity
through fuel cells which supply power to the engine.
This is the reason why fuel cell vehicles are also considered electric vehicles despite
their comparable range and refueling system to the conventional vehicles.
Fuel cells work just like batteries, but they do not run down or need recharging.
A fuel cell consists of two electrodes, a negative electrode or anode and a
positive electrode or cathode that is sandwiched around an electrolyte.
When a fuel such as hydrogen is fed to the anode and oxygen is fed to the cathode,
a catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons,
which take different paths to the cathode.
The electrons then go through an external circuit creating electricity
while the protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode,
where they unite with oxygen and the electrons to produce water and heat.
This means that fuel cell vehicles do not create tailpipe pollution when they are driven
since by-products of converting hydrogen gas into electricity are only heat and water.
Now, this sounds like a wonderful solution to the current gasoline-powered cars.
So why haven’t we developed this technology on a larger scale?
Well, while electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells may not produce
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, the production of hydrogen itself does.
As with coal, producing hydrogen from methane yields an abundance
of carbon monoxide which then turns into carbon dioxide via combustion.
However, even when the fuel comes from one of the dirtiest sources of hydrogen,
which is methane,
fuel cell technology cuts over 30% of greenhouse
emissions when compared to their gasoline-powered counterparts.
Moreover, Once filled, the driving ranges of fuel cell vehicles
are similar to the ranges of gasoline or diesel-only vehicles.
This is very different from battery electric vehicles that
must be plugged in for extended periods of time.
As of now, there are three models of hydrogen-powered cars publicly available
from three different companies that are considered pioneers of this technology.
Honda began working on this technology as early as the late 1980s
with Toyota and Hyundai starting in the 1990s.
Honda introduced its Clarity FCV in 2008 in the United States.
Soon after in 2015, Toyota released its Toyota Mirai,
followed by Hyundai Nexo which came in the form of an SUV.
Currently, there are several challenges that hydrogen fuel cell technology faces.
These include the price tag that comes with extracting hydrogen using our current methods.
On top of that, hydrogen is highly flammable and very difficult to move around and store,
unlike coal and oil.
Furthermore, replacing the existing infrastructure to
accommodate hydrogen-powered cars is extremely difficult as of now.
Since gasoline is still being widely used to this day,
there just isn’t any infrastructure that can support hydrogen as fuel.
Perhaps these are some of the reasons why Elon Musk mocked
the idea of using hydrogen fuel cells over electric batteries for many years.
But for now, we cannot count out this new technology,
and must wait and see what happens in the future!
And that brings us to the end of this video.
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Also, let us know in the comments down below
what you think about the hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Until then, we’ll see you in the next one!