Photo: Inside EVs
Elon Musk and hydrogen are like oil and water. Both exist in the same time and space as one another, but one side of that dynamic would rather the other just go away and let him get back to his usual business. Selling battery-powered EVs to the masses.
The celebrity frontman of Tesla and SpaceX is no stranger to giving his two cents on hydrogen energy and its associated infrastructure. Going so far as to call the technology "extremely silly" in front of a who's who of automotive journalists at the Auto News World Congress a number of years ago.
A recent expose conducted by Anmar Frangoul of CNBC broke down just why Musk has become so openly hostile to hydrogen technology. It turns out to be a sentiment shared by more than one global auto executive. The report notes how Musk routinely denounces hydrogen as difficult to store, transport, and keep from becoming an explosion hazard on the technology side of things.
Of course, this is compared to the lithium battery refining process used to create batteries in the Tesla's that turned Musk into a made man. There are no doubt strengths and weaknesses between battery and hydrogen-powered electric cars, but it seems Musk had made up his mind on the matter long ago.
Still, Musk, as well as Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, believe hydrogen tech is best reserved for industries outside of the automotive sphere. This is according to Anmar Frangoul's article in which a tweet by Diess shows him saying, "It's time for politicians to accept science, green hydrogen is needed for steel, chemical, aero … and should not end up in cars. Far too expensive, inefficient, slow and difficult to roll out and transport."
All while VW's German rivals at Daimler laud a future using both options as their chosen path forward for now. Meanwhile, Toyota, Hyundai and BMW have already committed time and resources to make hydrogen power a clean alternative to the lithium-ion battery status quo. Cars like the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo have already proven that a mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell-powered EV is, in fact, possible.
Ultimately, it will be the global consumers that decide whether traditional battery power will outpace hydrogen fuel cells as the go-to power source of the future. It's a race Elon Musk intends to win, ostensibly by any means necessary. That includes a little bit of shade-throwing every now and then.
A recent expose conducted by Anmar Frangoul of CNBC broke down just why Musk has become so openly hostile to hydrogen technology. It turns out to be a sentiment shared by more than one global auto executive. The report notes how Musk routinely denounces hydrogen as difficult to store, transport, and keep from becoming an explosion hazard on the technology side of things.
Of course, this is compared to the lithium battery refining process used to create batteries in the Tesla's that turned Musk into a made man. There are no doubt strengths and weaknesses between battery and hydrogen-powered electric cars, but it seems Musk had made up his mind on the matter long ago.
Still, Musk, as well as Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, believe hydrogen tech is best reserved for industries outside of the automotive sphere. This is according to Anmar Frangoul's article in which a tweet by Diess shows him saying, "It's time for politicians to accept science, green hydrogen is needed for steel, chemical, aero … and should not end up in cars. Far too expensive, inefficient, slow and difficult to roll out and transport."
All while VW's German rivals at Daimler laud a future using both options as their chosen path forward for now. Meanwhile, Toyota, Hyundai and BMW have already committed time and resources to make hydrogen power a clean alternative to the lithium-ion battery status quo. Cars like the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo have already proven that a mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell-powered EV is, in fact, possible.
Ultimately, it will be the global consumers that decide whether traditional battery power will outpace hydrogen fuel cells as the go-to power source of the future. It's a race Elon Musk intends to win, ostensibly by any means necessary. That includes a little bit of shade-throwing every now and then.
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