While there are a handful of automakers still desperately holding onto the concept of a hydrogen car, it seems like America has largely moved past hydrogen as a viable clean power option in favor of electric motors. But I have to know—if you could drive a hydrogen car, would you do it? Would you be interested in driving it for the longer term?
I’ve been dying to get behind the wheel of a hydrogen vehicle for ages now. I think the concept is neat—you can fill up your car quickly with a liquid form of power, reminiscent of the gas-and-go concept of a current stop to power your internal combustion engine. And it also has the benefit of being a hell of a lot better for the environment than, y’know, fossil fuels.
I have a pal whose European father drives a hydrogen car, and she’s told me that it’s kind of unsettling to ride in just because it’s so quiet. But she doesn’t have any experience in an electric car to compare to, so I don’t know how it relates to an EV.
It’s a much more viable form of power in certain parts of Europe, which actually have the infrastructure to accommodate hydrogen cars. We just don’t have that in the United States. Almost all of our hydrogen filling stations are in California, which means that you can’t feasibly own a hydrogen car in any other state. And I don’t see us developing that any time soon—it’s been enough of a struggle to get a decent network of EV battery chargers in place.
But I’ve been wondering if other folks are interested in hydrogen, or if it’s firmly just a Me Thing. I don’t know if I’d position it as a better choice than an EV, but I just can’t say without firsthand experience.