http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article2452277.ece
The most relevant bit is this:
You will not have an electric car either. As the G-Wiz proves, They. Do. Not. Work. They run out of juice whenever it’s raining, or dry, or windy. And to charge them up again you have to plug them into a socket that is fed by . . . a power station. Yippee.
Aside from the "long tailpipe" argument which has already been debunked so many times it hurts. . . Using the G-Wiz to condemn all electric cars is like condemning all gasoline-powered cars based on your experience with a Trabant.
Clarkson then proceeds to tout the wonders of hydrogen fuel. Wait a minute! He was concerned about where we're going to get electricity to charge our electric cars, but where we're going to get power to produce hydrogen doesn't concern him at all?
Ah. I almost forgot, hydrogen is "the most abundant gas in the universe." Maybe they'll run a pipeline from Jupiter.
Clarkson again:
The fact is that the best way of storing hydrogen is between the atoms in metal. Already some scientists reckon they have gone one better and have worked out a way of putting 30 litres in a single gram of graphite. And 30 litres would be enough to take a family saloon of the future 5,000 miles.
30 liters of hydrogen gas is about three grams. Which will indeed carry your family car 5,000 miles -- if we assume, for the sake of argument, that your family car gets the equivalent of 600,000 MPG efficiency.
The most relevant bit is this:
You will not have an electric car either. As the G-Wiz proves, They. Do. Not. Work. They run out of juice whenever it’s raining, or dry, or windy. And to charge them up again you have to plug them into a socket that is fed by . . . a power station. Yippee.
Aside from the "long tailpipe" argument which has already been debunked so many times it hurts. . . Using the G-Wiz to condemn all electric cars is like condemning all gasoline-powered cars based on your experience with a Trabant.
Clarkson then proceeds to tout the wonders of hydrogen fuel. Wait a minute! He was concerned about where we're going to get electricity to charge our electric cars, but where we're going to get power to produce hydrogen doesn't concern him at all?
Ah. I almost forgot, hydrogen is "the most abundant gas in the universe." Maybe they'll run a pipeline from Jupiter.
Clarkson again:
The fact is that the best way of storing hydrogen is between the atoms in metal. Already some scientists reckon they have gone one better and have worked out a way of putting 30 litres in a single gram of graphite. And 30 litres would be enough to take a family saloon of the future 5,000 miles.
30 liters of hydrogen gas is about three grams. Which will indeed carry your family car 5,000 miles -- if we assume, for the sake of argument, that your family car gets the equivalent of 600,000 MPG efficiency.
