Thoughts on the ‘EV transition’ in the automotive industry

To the Editor:

While I am highly skeptical that the “EV transition” will go as planned, I also have an extremely hard time believing hydrogen is the next big thing and will “power past” EVs.

Unless you’re in an overly populated area of California, good luck finding a hydrogen fuel station. Even when I was in San Diego recently, there was only one station in the area, and it certainly wasn’t doing anything to promote itself or fuel cells in general. The infrastructure just isn’t there and developing it would cost heaps of cash that are currently being poured into EVs to try to meet these so-called “goals” within the next few years.

I get that there are benefits to using hydrogen rather than pure battery-electric, especially that the electrical infrastructure nationwide wouldn’t need such extensive upgrades. And there’s the question of what we’ll do with all the EV batteries when they’re finished. But will the benefits of hydrogen outweigh the growing pains necessary?

Of course, Toyota wants to succeed with its Mirai, and Honda wants to make it far with its Clarity, but unless consumer sentiment about EVs tanks even further and people start getting hyped up about hydrogen, I just don’t see this happening.

Emily Chapple

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