Such a shame. Fuel cell EVs seem like such a good idea according to Toyota, but the reality of living with one seems pretty terrible, not to mention the problems with producing hydrogen cleanly and making it available affordably and conveniently.
PDF of the filing available here: https://www.classaction.org/media/caluwe-et-al-v-toyota-motor-sales-usa-inc-et-al_1.pdf
What we really need is more rail and less cars of any type. Anyway, it’s too bad that BEVs and their “fast” chargers are getting foisted on us. Maybe a future Who Killed the Hydrogen Car? documentary will get to the bottom of it.
In my local area, and large portions of the country our gas lines have been upgraded to be “hydrogen ready”.
Tesla was able to install superchargers all over the world and work with governments to increase power infrastructure and develop a rapid charging network.
If governments were willing to upgrade gas pipelines why didn’t Toyota invest in a hydrogen fuelling network? As hydrogen is mostly extracted from crude oil using a massive amount of electricity, I’m sure the fossil fuel lobby would have helped too!
That who killed the hydrogen car? documentary is not required, the answer is physics and economics.
100% agreed on transit.
100% disagreed on BEVs - unless you can’t charge at home (perfectly valid reason to avoid BEVs), slow charging is good enough for nearly everyone. fast charging is only relevant on roadtrips, and the infra is there in most places. far from perfect, but present and serviceable enough.
Then why the struggle to deploy new fast charging infrastructure? All we’re doing is avoiding mass transit and subsidizing the battery industry.
What makes you think DC charging infrastructure takes anything away from transit? Both can happen and are happening simultaneously.
It’s competition for passengers. If it’s too easy and inexpensive for people to travel long distances in their cars, why bother with mass transit? I don’t know about California, but here on the East coast, chargers keep popping up, the highways are getting wider, and there’s barely any new rail service coming.
The hydrogen car never stood a chance. The Hindenburg poisoned hydrogen as a transport fuel and even 100 years later questions of safety were usually the first ones asked, even before any relevant gains from hydrogen.
EVs are better than any combustion or hybrid due to the drastically simplified power train and reduced part count. Toyota didn’t want to lose their sunk costs in transmissions, fuel delivery systems, etc. but they were fighting the future instead of embracing it.
