Fuel cell electric vehicles have been the topic of several lively discussions over here at CleanTechnica, but while weve been busy talking, Mercedes-Benz has been walking the walk, or driving the drive as the case may be. Earlier this week the company pitched its forthcoming 2017 hydrogen fuel cell EVs with a splashy publicity tour in California, involving almost 1,000 miles split among five of the companys B-Class F-CELL vehicles over a three-day period.
Alright Already With Hydrogen The Fuel Station Infrastructure
For those of you new to the topic, an FCEV is an all-electric vehicle but instead of getting its juice from electricity stored in a battery, it literally makes its own electricity on the fly, deploying the chemical reaction in a fuel cell.
The fuel of choice is hydrogen, and therein lies the problem. Until FCEV ownership reaches critical mass, there is little incentive to build hydrogen fuel stations, or to make room for them at existing gas stations. So, fuel availability is currently a big obstacle to FCEV ownership.
Thats similar to the dilemma faced by potential battery EV customers up until just a few years ago. However, while battery EV owners at least have the option of plugging in at home, FCEV owners are totally reliant on public fueling infrastructure (at least, for now they are).
Thats where California comes in. California is hot on the trail of any zero-emission vehicle it can lay its hands on, with the goal of reaching 87% saturation by mid-century. So, in addition to building up its battery EV charging network, the state is also building up its hydrogen fuel station infrastructure, partly with the help of auto industry stakeholders (and this one, too).
With that in mind, this weeks Mercedes-Benz publicity tour was just partly designed to leverage the B-Class F-CELL sedan, which readers of our sister site Gas2.org may recall from its introduction to the California zero-emission vehicle market back in 2010 when it was practically the only consumer model FCEV around.
The real point was to highlight the growing hydrogen fuel station infrastructure in California. The five F-CELLs were tasked with refueling only at public stations over the three-day trip between Los Angeles to San Francisco along the states Hydrogen Highway with stops at Burbank, Coalinga, West Sacramento, and Emeryville...SNIP Full Article: http://cleantechnica.com/2015/10/28/mercedes-benz-fuel-cell-ev-doubters-hahahahahahahaha/
"Fuel Cells are SO BULLSH*T" - the now discredited Elon Musk, who has his hands full with a burn rate problem. Hahahahah! $300 million + loss per Quarter adds up- even if you're a 2 bit billionaire.
After doing a little research, I found the Honda FCEV going for $70,000, getting 200 miles per hydrogen tankful ($50 per fill-up). A 1,000 mile trip like this would take 4-5 stops for fuel.
The Chevy Cruze gets 42mpg highway, resulting in a 500-600 mile range. One pit stop on a 1,000 mile trip, $30-$50 for gas.
So, for the same money, you can get a n new car, your wife can get a new car, your son can get a new car, your daughter c c can get a new car, and you save 80% on fuel costs.
So, for the same money, you can get a n new car, your wife can get a new car, your son can get a new car, your daughter c c can get a new car, and you save 80% on fuel costs.
There, you did it. Don't you he can only accomodate one fact or bit of info in his brain at a time. You gave him five. Shame on you.
I don't see an $85K hy-car that is a minivan/hatchback like the Mercedes is going to dominate this market.
Mercedes has had these same vehicles now for about five years. They've made hydogen fuel-cell vehicles since the mid-Nineties. Not that Op40 has kept up with all his old corporate press releases.
So Mercedes is going to show up in CA to try to finally sell some of its 5yo hatchback minivan Hindenburgs-on-wheels.
I just don't the excitement. There are much more interesting developments than this stale marketing trick. 5 of these hatchback managed to drive an entire 1,000 miles over three consecutive days? So each only had to cover 200 miles, amounting to 66 miles per day?
Color me much less than impressed.
I'm confident that other hy-cars will do much better as they're introduced.
Who knows, they might sell one to Ed Begley and other hardcore treehugger types. They're totally into it.