EV alternative for light/medium duty trucks

RambleOnNW wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

RambleOnNW wrote:

I think getting away from burning fossil fuel is necessary for human population to continue. But statements that are on their face false is not the way to educate. Solar panels will not produce unless sun shines on them. Storage is another issue, not same as production.
And we keep hearing "green hydrogen". Are you talking about methods of production, or the color? Does it store different than blue? Or Red?
But abandoned natural gas lines back in service? And from what I understand higher pressures than originally used?
And what really makes me ask questions is do we understand the difference between a ad and press release?

1) Fair enough. I changed the word ‘produce’ to ‘contribute’.
2).Color of hydrogen indicates production method. It all results in the same H2, hydrogen.
3). Pipelines can be reused or relined. Europe seems ahead in that regard.
4). Hydrogen blending in a natural gas pipeline already occurs in Canada. Enbridge.
5). Hydrogen cars, vans, and large box trucks already exist. All available in Europe. Hydrogen fueling stations exist. Also the US in California.

My target is a replacement AWD vehicle that is 100% clean energy. No range loss in cold weather and fast refueling during road trips. Probably hybrid hydrogen with some plug in electric range such as 50 miles.

There are 106 Hydrogen stations in USA, all in California, all close to the coast except for one close to Reno.
The unused natural gas lines will need to be checked and repaired before being used. They are equipped with leak detection based of components of natural gas, but hydrogen does not have it and so far can't be added, that is why they have to mix it with natural gas and later separate it. Fixing the lines is doable, but will take time and, of course, natural gas (the only way to detect leaks)
Also the pressure for transporting hydrogen is higher than natural gas and they are not even sure if all components in the system can take it.
You might be able to get Hydrogen in 5 years along the west coast line, but I don't know how far north.
If direct extraction works the gulf would be the perfect place to produce it and have several distribution point along the extensive coast. East coast would be next, but currently there are no pipe lines running across like in California.
Getting hydrogen lines would be just the first step. After that we will need the stations. I would say to begin at least 500 stations in the south, just to get started.
The great lakes in the north could help in the production and distribution points. I would say around 700 stations to cover the north and center and 200 for more populated areas for overflow.
That will get you close to the supercharging stations that Tesla installed. Just keep in mind, having a network comparable with Tesla is not enough because Tesla had the advantage the everybody could charge their cars at home.
Now, we could develop a home hydrogen generator for home based on the same design that Honda did for the CNG vehicles, but the problem is that a home generator will consume a lot of power, hydrogen is far more dangerous than natural gas and the home station took 10 hours to provide enough fuel for 70 miles because it took a lot of time to get to such high pressure and hydrogen is even higher; so it might not even be possible.
Just the stations would be $4B, the production and distribution around $10B. Time 15 years if things go right and money is available.
It is doable and I hope it happens because I believe is a better alternative than going full electric, but it will take time.
It will also depend on politics. Hopefully Hydrogen does not get tagged as a political argument for one party because that will only make it worse.