cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/52369691

According to the complaint, Toyota and its hydrogen partner, FirstElement Fuel (True Zero), intentionally concealed evidence of:

  • hydrogen leaks near hot engine components, creating explosion risks

  • sudden power loss, acceleration, and braking failures leading to collisions and injuries

  • a collapsing hydrogen infrastructure, leaving drivers stranded for weeks without access to fuel

  • aggressive financial collection tactics by Toyota Motor Credit Corporation, targeting owners of inoperable vehicles.

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[–] 30 points 1 year ago (9 children)

It's long past time for Japanese automakers to accept that currently hydrogen has lost the green fuel race in automobiles to battery electric. There's still room for hydrogen aviation, but I can't imagine choosing to purchase a hydrogen car in the 2020s

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    There's still room for hydrogen aviation,

    Is there really? I read the tanks make it impractical and that synthetic hydrocarbon jet fuel would be the likely fossil fuel replacement.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    I thinks it’s more that there is no acceptable solution for aviation yet, so yes there’s room

    • batteries will never have sufficient power density
    • plant based fuels are unlikely to scale
    • hydrogen has technical challenges
    • ammonia is dangerous

    Every option has significant limitations but we need something to work

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    Solid state batteries may well be dense enough. Admittedly, that is something of a "two years away for the last ten years" problem.

    It's also a safety issue. Now, the issues with safety in EVs is overblown, but commercial aviation has much tighter safety standards. Fortunately, solid state batteries fix that, too.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Airplane fuel is dangerous and full of lead. Every time people list disadvantages of alternative technologies, they pretend current fuels aren't a toxic dangerous mess.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Jet fuel doesn’t contain lead and never did.

    AvGas does still have a lead problem and it was commonly used before the jet age, but is now relegated to small general aviation aircraft - a miniscule percentage. If you look at aviation as a whole, leaded gas usage is effectively zero.

    Really the problem comes down to contamination at and near small historical airfields.

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