“But my BEV battery is so much more efficient than hydrogen. Why in the world would I want to buy something less efficient?”
There is absolutely no denying this fact. Yes! And for some people who are choosing what type of zero emission to car to purchase, this spreadsheet line item may be enough to tip the decision. We'd like to point out, however, that we do not live in a spreadsheet.
First, there’s nothing wrong with being efficient. We like efficiency. We intend to be be as efficient as we can in everything we do. We applaud efficiency. There’s more than one way to measure efficiency, however. Because we’re dealing with world-wide and exceptionally complicated, dynamic problems, it stands to reason that we might want to expand our world-view on how we rank efficiency as it relates to our complex ecosystem. Once you take into consideration the big-picture, BEVs suddenly don’t look quite as good as they do when focusing on a spreadsheet line item.
Let's start with the efficiency of energy potential vs mass
A Lithium-ion battery used in most BEV contains 50 to 260 Wh/kg (watt hours per kilo) where as hydrogen contains a kilogram of hydrogen contains 33,200 watt-hours (Whs) per kilo. No, that’s not a mistake. Yes, hydrogen is more than 100 times as energy-dense as a lithium-ion battery!
Let's put this another way. The new model Tesla Model 3 has an EPA range ratings: 253 miles. That battery weighs 1,060 pounds (480 kg) in a 0.40 m³ volume; a density of 150 Wh/kg. If we magically stored 480 kilos of hydrogen in a Toyota Mirai - the leading hydrogen fuel cell automobile - according to the EPA, the Mirai goes 402 miles per tank - estimated 67 city/67 hwy/67 combined MPG for 2020 - the Mirai could travel 31,680 miles. When in fact the Toyota Mirai only carries a fuel payload of a pittance 5 kilos - NOT a behemoth 480 kgs like the Tesla battery.
The weight of the Mirai fuel cell stack is 44.6 kilos and the two hydrogen tanks onboard weigh in at 87.5 kilos. Since the rest of the Mirai is an EV like the Tesla - it also has a small battery to operate the peripheral electronics and weighs in at only 44 kilos. So if we added up all the power and controlling systems of the Toyota Mirai it would total 181 kgs - nowhere near the weight of the Tesla Model 3 480 kilo battery.
What about cost?
A lot of modern BEV cars run on efficient and very costly lithium-ion batteries. The replacement cost for one of these efficient batteries can be upwards of $16,000, or about half the yearly income of the average US worker. That's a mighty big-ticket price to pay for such efficiency.
Further costs are associated with sourcing the rare materials that make up these batteries. According to The Guardian, Tesla motors, and other tech giants are being sued over the deaths and injuries of children from sourcing their raw material from third-world countries who don’t mind exploiting their labor force including children. Perhaps the overall efficiency equation should not include environmental destruction and exploitation of children, nor should the solution only be made available for the lucky few high-wage earners. Real efficiency means everyone becomes part of the solution.
But my BEV is leaving no carbon footprint!
IF you’re charging your BEV with grid power, which is 60% coal-fired, your enormous energy needs to power that very efficient battery actually produces MORE of a carbon footprint than a regular gas engine. Ouch!
On the other hand, if you use 100% solar to charge your BEV, then you do lower your personal carbon footprint. Do you know where your electrons come from?
The efficiency of versatility
What if we changed our perspective of line-item efficiency to include a bigger, real-world picture? Efficiency, turns out, can mean a lot of things:
- Can you drink your battery? NO! Hydrogen fuel cells produce pure water. So now we’re talking about a single system that can produce power AND water when burning the hydrogen. That’s a more efficient production model.
- Is your very efficient battery recyclable? Yes and No. Right now, only about 5% of lithium ion batteries are recycled. Most end up in the land fill where they can explode or combust. Car manufacturers, however, are making a point of recycling. However recycling these half-ton batteries are complex, costly, and often require using chemicals to break the glue bonds that are so toxic that, according to Science.org, some are being banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because they pose an "unreasonable risk" to workers.
With hydrogen, it’s 100%, and anyone can do it. - Can your BEV power your house? At nearly $6,000 a unit, a Tesla power wall can’t even power your entire home for a day. It can keep the refrigerator and critical appliances going for a few hours, and then you’re done. As storms increase in severity, duration, and frequency, we’re seeing communities down for weeks, not hours, due to the damage caused by these powerful storms. The average home would need at least 3 power walls just to power the entire home for a day. Almost $20,000 for a day’s worth of power might be considered efficient in some circles, but in the real world this is a high-priced disaster with disappointing results. With a hydrogen based home-powered solution, you can power your ENTIRE home forever without paying a nickel to the utility company. In fact, there's enough hydrogen-power in a single toilet-flush of water to power your house all day.
- Can you take your very efficient battery out of one vehicle and put it into another one? NO. Hydrogen – YES.
- Can you power the lawnmower, your boat, your appliances, your tractors and ATVs, trains and planes with your very efficient battery? NO. Hydrogen – YES.
- Can you lower emissions of the air and shipping industry? NO. Hydrogen – YES.
- Can your very efficient battery boost the world-wide economy? NO. Buying loads of these very efficient batteries will boost the value of one company however. But everyone? Never.
- Can your very efficient battery put money in your pocket? NO. And yes, with hydrogen. Eventually, independent producers will be able to sell their hydrogen on the Hydrogen Exchange Program. Under the umbrella of the "Hydrogen Economy" everybody wins.
- Can you make these very efficient batteries from sewage? Old tires? Garbage? NO! Not to be redundant, but with hydrogen, the answer is yes. Things we typically consider to be cost-factors turn into valuable assets under the hydrogen economy. Instead of burying billions of tons of garbage each year in toxic landfills, turn that same cost into a profit center and create hydrogen. Hydrogen can extracted from organic biomass like sewage, fallen timbers, old tires, and refuse. Try doing that with a battery! Efficiency comes with flexibility and the ability to produce hydrogen virtually anywhere out of many different and traditional liabilities. Hydrogen turns liabilities into assets. With hydrogen, you can literally clean up the planet by turning waste into power that also produces clean water at the same time, but this is impossible with a battery-powered world. With batteries, we still get to keep our sewage and trash as is. Batteries might be efficient in power-conversion, but are woefully weak when it comes to actually changing the planet.
- What would happen if you decided that you’d like to duplicate and start selling your own very efficient batteries? The investment is beyond the scope of 99.9 percent of the population. And even if you managed build your own gigawatt battery plant and started producing the exact same battery somehow, do you think Tesla motors would let you? You’d get sued. All the money and time wasted. Everyone knows this already, which is why we don’t see any articles on how to create your own battery plant. Not so with hydrogen, however. Why? Hydrogen is not just for the billionaires.
If you tried manufacturing your own hydrogen and selling it with Element One Technology, instead of suing you, we would write you check. Eventually, we’ll have a nation-wide hydrogen exchange program where private, business and cooperative partners can manufacture and sell their own hydrogen in a plug-and-play scenario similar to purchasing propane. Except instead of just buying, regular people can start to manufacture their own hydrogen and put money in their pocket. We will also be training a new breed of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, researchers, and businesses in the science behind safely using the technologies and systems that put money and power in your pocket. It’s called the hydrogen economy because everybody wins. - Hydrogen means freedom. Economic freedom. Freedom of choice. Freedom of when, where and how you want to produce or use. Freedom of not having to be reliant on foreign oil. Now just about anyone can be their own utility and produce power for EVERYTHING. Their house, car, appliances – you can cook with hydrogen, trains, planes and automobiles all powered with the same clean-burning, water-producing element. We clean up our environment WHILE enjoying clean-burning, endlessly recyclable hydrogen that puts money into your pocket. Try any of this with a battery, no matter how efficient, and the end result will be the same: failure.
When we look at the bigger, world-wide picture, the overall equation produces only one real solution. The hydrogen economy is here. It's happening now. If you want a very efficient battery that can only do one thing, but does it well enough – then perhaps BEVs are for you. If, on the other hand, you realize that we live in a massively complicated world with lots of moving parts and any kind of solution is going to need to be versatile and flexible enough to meet ALL those different needs, then there’s just one solution that rises to the top. Hydrogen.