Tesla has invested a lot in its new battery technology,
and continues to do so but does this battery technology give an edge over the competition
and the hydrogen-powered cars? And how much edge? The raw argument has been that hydrogen vehicles
rely on energy that doesn’t occur naturally. That leads to the charge for inefficiency and
environmental campaigns. Elon Musk blatantly dismissed the technology because to him;
it is mind-bogglingly stupid, a load of rubbish, and he refers to the fuel cells as fool cells.
It is even more damning to note that China, the world’s biggest EV market is promoting the idea
of new-energy cars which are a direct reference to hydrogen cars. Another technology giant, Japan,
has ambitious plans to go carbon-neutral by 2050 with hydrogen energy. As part of Germany’s clean
environment initiative, they are also promoting hydrogen as a sustainable energy alternative.
But do we even understand what hydrogen in cars means? Let's explore hydrogen
vehicles now to arrive at our own decision. Hydrogen-powered cars are often called hydrogen
fuel cell cars. The hydrogen vehicles are simply an alternative fuel vehicle that uses hydrogen
fuel for motive power instead of fossil fuel. They are e-cars because they are powered by an electric
motor. Unlike battery electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles produce their energy.
The car does not have a built-in battery system that needs to be plugged in and charged to move.
The hydrogen cars have their power plant on board. So as the hydrogen powers the car,
there is a portion that is using the by-product of hydrogen: heat and water to power the battery.
The Peak Power Battery, as it is called is small and can only add a little mileage. This downside
is because hydrogen is the main character in a hydrogen-powered car. On the bright side,
both of the cars have no sound due to electric installations and they are both lively when
started. There are three models of hydrogen cars on the market today. They are Toyota Mirai,
Honda Clarity, and Hyundai Nexo. It indeed takes a shorter time to
refuel a hydrogen-powered car. For a car that consumes about three times more energy than
a battery-electric car per mile driven, it might be quick to refuel. The average time
it takes to power an electric car can be anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours,
but hydrogen-electric motors start at 5 minutes for fueling. The statistics are good if you view
it from this angle and this angle only. The reason is that you will mostly spend hours
looking for a place to refuel your hydrogen fuel cell cars. There are only 40 refueling stations in
the whole of the United States. If that was one for every state, we will still be behind by 10,
which is not even the arrangement of this fueling station network. When you take Tesla, for example,
they are constantly growing their supercharger stations. As of April 2020, Tesla reported
2,699 stations globally. The combined individual stalls of all of these stations are 24,515.
The fact that you can charge at home or go to any of these stations makes electric cars the ultimate
for convenience. No one wants to be stuck in the middle of nowhere because the nearest refueling
center is three hours away. The pecks of having free holiday supercharges like the recent 4th
of July offer is also a good reason to stick with electric cars. When Tesla started building
supercharging locations, nobody in the EV business was doing it. The company also chose not to charge
for it for so long. That was an excellent way to sell more cars. If you buy other cars, you will
still buy gasoline, but this one will even charge the battery for free. When they started billing,
they made it clear that it was for operational reasons only, and still, a full charge costs $25.
Tesla also indicated that they would be allowing other electric vehicles to charge
at their superchargers next year, starting from Norway. This milestone puts electric vehicles
ahead of fuel cell electric vehicles. The cycle of growth as seen in fuel cell
electric cars is not encouraging. There are still a lot of people who will rather buy a hybrid or
electric car than purchase a hydrogen-powered car. The reason is connected. At one point, you have
few people buying, which also means few batches in production. That will cut off your economics
of scale that electric vehicle makers like Tesla enjoy. Once there are only a few produced and at a
higher cost, then the fueling stations cannot also spring out in their numbers due to the low demand.
The thin number of fueling stations will also discourage people from buying. And,
the cycle of reasons continues. All of this is directly tied to cost. The average SUV type is
around $80,000. That is two times the price that even Tesla that is known as a high costing brand.
The pricing could be due to the size of the hydrogen tanks placed in the cars.
The tanks make it impossible to have cars in smaller classes. The cost of production,
and production in smaller quantities, make hydrogen-powered cars a tough choice. And, they
are more expensive to charge. So Tesla continues to sell close to 510,000 cars a year while
hydrogen car makers are still struggling to hit 9,000 cars in the last nine years across the U.S.
Let's dive into the environmental and extraction efficiency of hydrogen powered cars, but first
let’s discuss what hydrogen energy is. Hydrogen is the easiest and most common element on earth.
Hydrogen mixes with oxygen to form water and mixes with carbon to create coal and methane.
Hydrogen is not available on earth, as a single unit, but we produce it. When it is produced on
earth, the by-products are heat and water. That is slightly clean but the process to arrive at
that result is where everything will go wrong. It has to be separated from plant and animal waste
(biomass), natural gas, and coal. The process of creating hydrogen is called steam reforming.
The process involves separating the hydrogen atoms from the carbon atoms.
Steam reforming is a massive contributor to global warming because it releases greenhouse gasses.
How does it affect the environment directly? Hydroxyl radicals are caused when ozone and water
vapor react with sunlight. The oxidants react with natural and artificial chemicals in the atmosphere
and weaken their potential to cause harm. When any form of hydrogen leaks into the atmosphere,
it reduces the concentration and potency of hydroxyl radicals. The cleansing power of
the atmosphere de-concentrated means ozone layer depletion by methane and other greenhouse gasses.
Another way to create hydrogen is to separate it from the oxygen mix in water.
The process is referred to as electrolysis. The electrolysis process is expensive and requires a
whole lot of energy. North America is responsible for 9 million metric tons of hydrogen each year,
which is 9 billion kilograms of hydrogen. A significant amount of hydrogen energy goes to NASA
as fuel for their space program. Food processing and metal treatments also use hydrogen because
their by-products are not harmful. It is, however, a much higher rate of damage than fossil foil.
It is projected that 1% of hydrogen leakage whether through production, transportation,
or usage will result in 6% more harm than fossil fuel. Do you see why Elon Musk is campaigning
against it and ready to see it out of business? With the new Tesla vision to bring battery
production in-house and the near completion of Giga Texas and Berlin,
the deal is done for hydrogen cars. The new battery will improve performance and range
for Tesla while reducing production costs. The cost reduction of kilowatt-hours will
result in making Tesla accessible and cost the same as other gasoline-powered vehicles.
Everyone is awaiting the new Tesla models that are expected to cost $25,000. The batteries that
will see this through are called 4680. The name is from the size of the battery, which
is bigger than any electric car battery ever. It measures 46 millimeters by 80 millimeters.
When a fan asked Elon Musk on Twitter what batteries will be placed in the Model Ys expected
to kick-start production at Giga Texas, he simply replied with "4680" The cars are expected to be
ready by the end of 2021, and this got everyone on Twitter excited. The jumbo battery cells have five
times more energy storage, six times increase in power and function, which ultimately gives a 16%
increase in range. The batteries have been designed to fit the structure of cars,
meaning more rigid and cheaper cars. The units are also far cheaper and store more power. The
battery line that has been described as a game-changer is already scoring
collaborative points with Panasonic, which is one of the official battery suppliers of Tesla.
The company is set up in the Giga Nevada factory now producing batteries for all Teslas. Panasonic
and LG are committed to developing the batteries alongside the Tesla in-house line. Panasonic
is already finishing off on the prototype. To rewrite a battery's fundamental building block is
a massive step and that is pushing boundaries with the automotive energy storage and function.
This enhancement will bring more attention to electric cars and dismiss whatever remaining
attachments anyone has to hydrogen-powered cars. Elon Musk thinks that hydrogen vehicles are not
the future, and we might agree. To learn more about his superior battery technology and its
capacity, click the next video on your screen. Thanks for watching. Until next time!