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I'm glad you are skilled at being snarky and rude, but it has no place here on Hacker News (or really anywhere). Now onto your post:
Writing off something as DOA because of current technologies is not a good argument at all. People made similar arguments about electric cars just a few years back (as shown in 'Who Killed the Electric Car'). A long time ago, no one ever thought computing would be cheap enough to be inside consumers' homes. There is always the possibility of a break-through technology, of a reduction in cost, increase in efficiency, etc. The quote above cherry-picks some statements in 2008 regarding GM and Toyota's views at the time on fuel-cell vehicles. However, there is a long list of companies who have publicly talked about their investment (and upcoming production vehicles as well) in the fuel-cell space just this year (2012!). A quick search through fuel-cell news this year brought up the following: Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz aka Daimler, Audi aka VW, Toyota, GM, BMW. There are probably others as well, but that already covers the vast majority of vehicle manufacturers. Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu reversed his view on fuel-cell cars and noted recently (mentioned towards the end of your quoted text as well) that there may be a higher feasibility for fuel-cell-based vehicles now. There is ample proof that fuel-cells deserve more attention and research before closing the discussion. It is worth investigating this space if only to have alternatives - electric vehicles have some issues (range, cold weather performance, environmental impact of producing batteries) that perhaps other technologies could address. |
> Nissan Leaf: Thousands.
> Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Thousands.
> Toyota RAV 4 EV: Thousands in production.
> Volt: Thousands.
> Model S: 20,000 in production.
> Toyota Prius: Millions.
> Electric scooters: Hundreds of millions.
> Hydro/Fuel Cells: A big, fat - wait for it - 0.
Sources:
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hybrid_vehicles
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_production_plug-...
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_production_battery_elec...
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fuel_cell_vehicles
I call that complete and utter domination.
And to be clear, I'm not being rude, I'm merely stating the facts.
I would do the same if you were racist or sexist - so don't feel too special. Truth is not snark unless it disagrees with your view of the world - it's merely fact vs. fiction.
I don't deal in fiction - facts alone are wanted in life.