194
‘It’s stupid’: why western carmakers’ retreat from electric risks dooming them to irrelevance
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
194 points (95.3% liked)
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I broadly agree with you, though I would add that there are exceptions e.g. for disabled people.
The reason I am being downvoted is 100% because progressive people are just as capable of being reactionary, short-sighted and propagandized as conservatives.
Look at the replies. People are denying basic facts, claiming that fuel cells don't exist and that hydrogen can't be contained. How do you even argue with people who are so blinded by adherence to their pre-existing beliefs?
I am 100% correct about hydrogen fuel cell based EVs and these people are so sensitive that they cannot cope with someone questioning the narrative fed to them by the mainstream.
Hydrogen vehicles are a BAD idea. Get over it. Toyota wasted far too much money showing us this.
They're a fantastic idea which is incompatible with capitalism. Recharging is easier and much, much faster, a full charge gets you much further, it allows for usage of vehicles in areas without an functioning or reliable electrical grid, it’s considerably more energy-dense meaning that vehicles can be lighter, and it’s considerably safer - fires caused by thermal runaway in EVs have been deadly. It's completely clean, greener than BEVs because there is less raw materials required to manufacture, hydrogen can be made out of water and sunlight. It's functionally free, and using it turns it back into water, with zero emissions. Batteries self-discharge whereas modern hydrogen systems are functionally 99.999% leakproof and even bulletproof.
They haven't been a success because no one wants to pay the infrastructure costs necessary for them to be widely accepted, because nobody can make any profit from it. The technology itself is very good.
The main reason I find people trying to push Hydrogen for is they are stooges for the Oil industry, as Hydrogen can be made using the existing oil infrastructure we have, however I argue that we need to get off of Oil and Gas ASAP, Hydrogen made from O&G is not clean and needs to fuck off.
Fossil fuel based hydrogen is called blue hydrogen, which is why I specifically mentioned green hydrogen, which is made from renewables and water. I absolutely agree with you that fossil fuels must die, but simply replacing it with lithium or sodium mining or whatever is a bad alternative when we have a far better alternative with green hydrogen fuel cell EVs. Not to mention that BEVs are often charged with electricity generated by coal and gas power plants.
Last reply. Hydrogen stations are closing due to no demand, cant even keep them open for a year in Canada. Simply put acceptance of Hydrogen vehicles worldwide is not and will never be.
Edit: upon further research Maintenance costs alone make it prohibitively expensive to even consider one
"The cost per kilogram varies by region but typically ranges from $12 to $16. A full tank usually costs around $70 to $90 and provides 300 to 400 miles of range."
Wow, so there is ZERO financial benefit of going to Hydrogen. For the record it costs me $20CAD/month to charge my EV.
It's a network effect issue. Nobody uses stations because nobody drives hydrogen cars, nobody drives hydrogen cars because they are dependent on stations, and stations are not widespread, but that is because nobody wants to fund the infrastructure, because it is hard to profit from.
None of any of that is an inherent issue with the technology, and it isn't because people have some irrational hatred for hydrogen or something.
In the past, massive infrastructure works were funded by states to improve the quality of life of the people who lived there, rolling out sewers, telephone lines, electricity, and so on. We could do that with hydrogen, but states are far more interested in funneling money from citizens to private individuals and corporations.