Hydrogen vs. electric: the battle continues

Big business

There’s nothing new about differing opinions in the hydrogen and electric vehicle camps, but as the competing technologies get closer to becoming commercially feasible on a large scale, the warring factions have stepped it up a gear in the fight to gain the upper hand in the marketplace.

Stars take sides

A recent Los Angeles Times article reported on the drive by auto manufacturers to enlist celebrities to endorse their new green technology vehicles, employing Hollywood’s top agents to pair them with suitable high-profile names. Actors Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz and talk-show host Jay Leno are some of the A-list stars lined up to get behind the wheel of the major manufacturers’ most cutting-edge alternative fuel cars.

But even in California, the state that invented Love 'n' Peace, the bidding war for endorsements has reignited controversy over the most effective alternative fuel – hydrogen fuel cells or plug-in battery power.

Criticism continues

Proponents of electric plug-in vehicles argue that hydrogen fuel cell technology requires three to four times more energy to produce than it later generates, while plug-in critics maintain that battery technology is not advanced enough for long distance driving, and that the electricity grid would be overstretched if an entire nation attempted to recharge its cars.

In the LA Times article, Toyota’s National Manager for Advanced Technologies Bill Reinert is quoted as saying, "Petroleum is not a long-term solution for cars, and battery cars have real limitations. Hydrogen technology is getting much better."

No market for electic?

It is not the first time in recent weeks that Reinert has emphatically condemned plug-in electric vehicles. As Greg Blencoe reported on his Hydrogen Discoveries blog, Reinert was confronted by electric car advocacy group Plug In America at a conference in Washington, D.C., last month. Having recently abandoned its RAV4 electric vehicle programme, Reinert and Toyota contend that there simply isn’t a market for electric vehicles, a view which Plug In America strongly opposes.

Craig Rubens, another U.S. sustainability blogger, described what happened at the conference on his earth2tech blog:

"Standing next to a converted plug-in Prius, rough language and impassioned rhetoric was exchanged, with neither side conceding anything. Much of the argument boiled down to the perceived demand for fully electric vehicles: Reinert and Toyota contend that there isn’t a viable market; Plug in America says quite the opposite."

Schism widening

Confrontations like these illustrate the continuing – if not growing – divide between the hydrogen and plug-in camps, not just in the States, but globally. But if the sustainable transport community engages in public mudslinging like this, how can it hope to win over a public already confused by the controversy over biofuels and food production?