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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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.