invader166 said:
Not just Honda, Toyota and Hyundai are following along, and have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in production as well.
For heavy commercial vehicles, hydrogen is definitely a plausible replacement fuel for diesel. This brings along a host of other problems like infrastructure, service/repairs, etc. but nothing that can't be solved over time.[...]
There are many challenges standing in the way of adoption of hydrogen. It's energy intensive (so it's less green than battery electric). The infrastructure is limited, and it would be incredibly expensive to change that (so it's less convenient than ICE, and less convenient than BEV for those who mostly/exclusively charge at home). The cars are expensive compared to ICE, and offer less variety than BEV.
So if hydrogen isn't the greenest option, it's not the most convenient option, and it's not the cheapest option... which consumer is it for? Car consumers are mostly motivated by cost, convenient, and the environment, and it would have to become the best in one of those categories to be able to compete. The hydrogen proposition relies on something changing, but I don't see any of the above changing fast enough (because ICE and BEV are also improving every year, so it's a moving target for hydrogen).
As someone who does 100% of my charging from a level-1 wall outlet, I have an infrastructure of billions of charging outlets to choose from. I have a less energy intensive/greener option than hydrogen will probably ever be. I have a cheaper refuelling option than hydrogen will ever be.
Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai/Kai are nothing to sneeze at, but those companies collectively sell more EVs than they do HFC vehicles. When you add in the companies that are focused on battery electric as their future (Tesla, Volkswagen group, etc.), then the R&D going into battery electric is higher and predictably is paying far greater dividends. Very few car companies outside of Japan and South Korea even frequently talk about hydrogen anymore, it seems to me. I don't see hydrogen ever catching up.
Yes it's different when talking a sedan or a crossover than talking about a bus or a transport truck. But hydrogen isn't affordable in any context yet, which will stand in the way of public transit or business adopting it in large numbers.