Toyota Mirai - would you buy or not?
I thought that electric car innovation would end up in Fuel cell?
There is a fueling place near my home,
No, there is no place to fuel it.
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Sufficient places in California
California is almost the only place in the US it is sold. And at 57000.00 new not something that is going to be in demand and they have only sold 2900 so far in 3 years.
If you never leave California, how does that make this any better than a battery electric? The only thing superior that a H2 fuel cell vehicle has compared to an EV is fast refueling. If there are no refueling stations in Las Vegas, why bother?
Aren’t they building the infrastructure?
Battery electric is going to end in Hydrogen fuel cell as far as I know.
These were only available for lease - now available to buy
Nope, there is no source of hydrogen, you have to make it with electricity (very inefficient) or by converting methane, which releases CO2. Toyota is just about the only company that has pursued it. Dead end, in my opinion.
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I presume the advantage of a fuel-cell electric vehicle vs a rechargeable battery version is that the fuel cell version is faster to “fill it up” if you will. But that advantage is of no value unless there’s a hydrogen refueling station nearby when you need it. Here in Calif the gov’r two gov’s ago had a plan for a statewide infrastructure for H2 refueling stations, but I don’t know what ever came of it. I do see fuel cell vehicles on the road occasionally, so there must be a few H2 filling stations in the San Jose area anyway.
Depends where you’re located . . .
I happen to think the Mirai is ugly
I have no problems buying a car I consider to be boring, but to buy one that I consider to be ugly . . . there’d better be a very good financial reason for doing so
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What would be reliable, used clean energy vehicle?
Chevy Volt seems hit or miss according Edmund reviews (2nd gen).
After 3 years out of warranty - touch screen fails (Prius) or other issues … Tesla, possibly Volt. Prius is still in demand and cost higher premium when it comes to used.
A cars looks are way down the list of my priorities. I don’t see anything replacing the IC engine in my future. We certainly can’t all go to electric cars no matter what the source of electricity unless our whole electric grid is completely rebuilt and that would take a massive federally mandated effort.
As far as I know, the Chevy Volt is actually a hybrid, not an ev
We’ve argued this point on this very website
I said it’s a hybrid, because it also has an ice, whereas other regulars said it was an ev, and the fact that it also has an ice was pretty much besides the point
I might add that several trade magazines and textbooks refer to the Volt as a hybrid
So I’m not sure I would consider it a “clean energy vehicle”
However, its successor, the Bolt is definitely an ev, no questions asked, therefore it could be considered a “clean energy vehicle” by most or maybe all
But let’s be realistic, there is pollution involved in the manufacture of any hybrid, ev, etc.
And the environment is pretty much being destroyed by mining the materials needed to produce the batteries that such vehicles require
But it’s countries like China that willingly destroy their environment, so that WE can purchase a Tesla or Prius and pat ourselves on the back
As far as reliability goes, stick with the Prius
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+1 to that comment!!
Even if you use solar panels or wind to recharge you EV every day, the big hitter is the lithium ion battery. Very dirty manufacturing process and no one has figured out large scale recycling for those type batteries.
The greenest car you could buy doesn’t exist anymore. A lead-acid battery (98% recycled) powered car charged with solar, wind or hydro-electric power. Your range would be 50-75 miles on a charge, but you’d be “green”
Doesn’t look like that is going to happen.
The material handling (forklift) industry is looking hard at fuel cells for indoor electric forklifts. The batteries are a pain to buy, keep, charge and swap. You have to stop what you are doing when the battery gets to 20%, ride to the battery room, swap the battery and return. Takes between 20 and 45 minutes out of an 8 hour shift. H2 refueling take 5-10 minutes and you can place them all around the massive warehouses used today. And you can refuel them anytime it is convenient. The technology has been around for 15 years. It is still used in less than 2% of forklifts.
I don’t consider these the type of vehicles to buy used . New with full warranty or leased so if it is really good you might buy at lease end.
If someone must buy used then Toyota Prius is the way to go as that is almost the standard others are compared to.
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I realized this thread moved to validate “clean”.
There was a study that concluded that it takes about 3-4yrs to break even - meaning if you use a new electric car for more than 3-4yrs, then its become clean - the pollution from manufacturing would have broke even with that of an ICE.
Depends wildly on where you live, how much you drive and your source of power to recharge.
Just like the car you buy depends a lot on how you use it. A sales rep or area manager that is in the car all day is not going to find an EV practical if there are no convenient charging stations where they travel. Nor is an EV practical if you travel long distances and are in a hurry.
Same for H2 stations. Great that you have some near you but if you want to spend the weekend in Vegas or Phoenix, you may not be able to re-fuel to return. The infra-structure isn’t in place. Plus the source of H2 in the US is primarily from natural gas so why bother?
And if you are towing something, forget about EV’s even if you have a Tesla X which is rated to tow 5000 lb. Rated, yes, but towing drastically reduces the range and that can be a problem.
There are trend lines online - By 2030/40 there Electric cars overtake ICE
The idea that one car, or one technology, or one choice of anything related to personal transportation fits all situations is pretty silly on its face. Clearly from time to time we need or want cars to do things that we don’t do every day. There’s no logical reason to own something that meets those requirements every day. I live in a crowded urban area with a mild climate where the average trip is short in mileage but long in time, and fully electric cars do well here. It would be reasonable to own small one and rent the big comfy family sedan for a long trip that lasts a week or maybe two. The same goes for moving a trailer, if you do it two or three times a year maybe renting the tow vehicle makes sense.
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Look long enough on the internet you can find things to support almost any kind of theory you want to believe.
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