Hey Cornkid, did you know we can make plastic these days from corn instead of oil? It's a magnificent example of what can be done with modern technology.
Here's the low down on Fuel Cell's, they're just insanely complex, and inefficient batteries. You 'charge' them by putting in Hydrogen. Unfortunately, although Hydrogen is the most abundant element around it's always mated to something.
So we both have $100 to spend on energy. You're in a HyWire , and since you're in a futuristic vehicle, I'm in a
Volvo 3CC.
Your car will hold 2 kg of H2. IdleProcess is saying that will take you about 30 miles, but I'm going to be fair and say it will take you 50 miles. This
Forbes.com article says H2 is currently about $4-$10 a kg, so we're going to say it takes you $10 ($5/kg) to fill your HyWire and go 50 miles.
Volvo says my car can go 180 miles on a charge. I'm going to grossly over-estimate and say it takes about $6 to charge my 3CC
So out of our $100 I can refuel 16.5 times. If I drive a little aggressively and only get 100 miles on a charge that's 1,650 miles for my $100.
On your $100 you get to refuel 10 times. If you get the full 50 miles every time than that's 500 miles.
Even grossly under-estimating the capabilities of my car, and over-estimating the capabilities of yours I still get to go a little over 3 times as far for my $100. Not to mention that my car cost much much less to buy in the first place.
Which is easier, ordering a CD from Amazon.com or just downloading it from the internet? To be even somewhat efficient, Hydrogen has to be produced in mass quantities, loaded on a truck, and unloaded at a fueling station. Then you have to go to the fueling station and pump it into your car. It takes a lot of time and energy to move all this Hydrogen around. Lets say have to refuel your HyWire once a week. Lets say you do it on your way to school, it probably only takes 5 minutes or so a week to refuel.
Electricity, on the other hand, goes wherever your direct it. It can easily be moved over long distances using the power lines we already have in place. My cell phone battery is never dead because I pop it on the charger every night. My 3CC (I wish) is the same way. Take 10 seconds or less to plug it in at night and 5 seconds or less to unplug durring the day. Even if it takes me 15 seconds to plug in and 15 seconds to unplug, I've only spent 3.5 minutes per week worrying about charging.
Half way through the week you're half way out of fuel, to take a longer trip you might have to stop off and fuel up, adding more time to your fueling duties. I start every day with a full tank, so if I need to run some extra errands half way through the week it's no big deal.
You're more than welcome to keep your HyWire, but I"ll stick with my 3CC any day /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
