Great question!
We think the answer is yes.
EV’s are on California’s list at least as the governor has made
PA’s to encourage EV owners not to charge up during periods
of peak power usage.
Ironically this would be any hot day in the summer and they
have a lot of those.
Concerning Hydrogen fuel cells:
We certainly don’t either but what we have been hearing is
that it takes more energy to produce than it yields.
" It takes about 50–55 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to produce 1 kilogram of hydrogen using current best processes for water electrolysis. This process is called electrolysis, and it transforms about 70–80% of the electrical energy into chemical energy of the hydrogen gas."
Well that sucks. All these brilliant minds in the world and nobody has really been able to figure out how to make human transportation needs and the planet work hand and hand.
As I study this it appears you are correct. Plus the stations to provide the Hydrogen do not exist anywhere I know of in the North East.
This very, very long article was interesting. I found it not political or selecting the technology, or any technology. It talked of the ability to generate the fuel at home. Again cost to create, vs. what the return provided is not balanced.
The article notes that California just lost many of the charging stations when Shell closed this option at many stations. This eliminated 1/3 of the stations in the state.
First drive: Honda says its CR-V e:FCEV plug-in fuel cell hybrid is the future. Is it?
That’s basic physics. You’ll lose energy at every step. Even charging a battery takes more energy that it will yield with a full discharge.
Unless we can tap some natural source of Hydrogen (there’s a big deposit in Africa; don’t remember just where), Hydrogen is an energy storage method, not an energy source. And it’s not as efficient (even theoretically) as many other technologies that already exist.
I think the big push for promoting Hydrogen was that refueling would be most similar to gasoline; just a different connection. So it would take only a few minutes, not the 20-30 minutes needed at a charging station for a true EV.
Just another data point, our Type 2 EV, the Smart EQ takes 3 hours to charge from 20% to 100%. It is not compatible with the fast DC charging technology. List price was only $24K on our first one, a loaded convertible. our 4-5 year old one was $32K same type but a special order.
The first one charged in 4 hours on a 220v (ac) Type 2 station, 6 hours on 110. The new one is the 3 hours noted above however on 110 it takes 13 hours. The first one (not ours) had a history of the charging box catching on fire. You could select your charging level, most selected high. Not appropriate for the circuit they were plugged into.
Come to think of it what do I do with all my Beta tapes and equipment now?
I was thinking of the Fast Chargers like you might use on the road; I’ve heard that at least with Tesla, it’s under 30 minutes to get 80% charge (it slows down after that).
Of course, one thing to keep in mind is that using these chargers has a negative effect on the life expectancy of the battery. Slower is better.
Sorry, but there isn’t a significant deposit of hydrogen in Africa or anywhere else on the planet. Hydrogen is such a small molecule that it does not stay in the earh’s crust. It ends up in the top of the atmosphere.
What you may have heard of is hydrogen gas production using electroloysis and water. That uses a lot of electricity, and requires some other source of energy to produce it.
Africa has lots of renewable sources of energy, particularly solar, and some wind and wave. They can, in theory, be used to drive hydrogen production and export.
The facilities to do this exist only on paper, and await the investment of billions of dollars to reach physical existence.
Assuming that someone does donate the required billions for production, there are still infrastructure costs: transportation, and storage at both ends. That is many billions more to be invested.
In the long run, the costs may be in the trillions, and it works only if first world countries have hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Yay or Nay on EVs?
I just realized that, despite several posts, I haven’t directy answered the OP’s question. So I’ll highlight the implicit answer in a previous post.
EVs? Nay.
But plugin hybrids? Yay, because we are slow to change.
But, I like my hat rack!
Scuttlebutt has it that DogtamerBot Enterprises, UnLTD is contemplating the launch of tinfoil-lined chapeaus of various styles - straw-boaters like I’ve long sported, fedoras, ball caps, snap backs, what have you… 
In the business realm, ya gotta make hay while the sun shines - even when said ‘light’ offends your own sensibilities.
Just wanted to say that every time I see this thread when scanning the list of topics, I initially read it as “Yay or Nay on Elvis.” Thank you very much. 
No, I’m talking about large deposits of hydrogen in the ground, much like natural gas. The one I was thinking of is in Mali; it powers the turbines to provide electricity to the local village of about 1500 people.
It’s still a new thing to look for, so the estimates have large error bars; but it could be significant:
The facility in Mali produces about five tonnes per year. The discovery in France is estimated to contain 250 million tonnes in total. Around the world, about 100,000 megatonnes of hydrogen is accessible, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which would represent hundreds of years of supply.
Taken from A new gold rush? The search for the natural hydrogen motherlode is coming to Canada | CBC News
In 50 years, word on the street is, this will be all tapped out. That’s what I read somewhere anyway
That’s been the word on the street, in various scientifically-oriented circles of commenters (and media observers who report on current scientific consensus, for that matter) for more than a hundred years - as multitudinous primary sources from both the 19th & 20th Centuries WILL readily attest to even the fabled ‘Most Casual of Observers’ - but surely we should not lightly overlook the simple fact that the global corporate conglomerates engaged in extracting natural resources have continuously found ways & means to extend their profits.
Whether or not those entity’s efforts to pad their coffers will in the future remain profitable remains to be seen - most-probably, methinks, because long-term sustainability simply isn’t on the radar of the boardroom-ensconced decision-makers in this era of the MBA Revolution meeting Instant Gratification demands.
Sigh.
One thing I’ve heard regarding the hydrogen deposits is that they occur in rock formations that are not where you would look for oil or natural gas; so there has been only very little exploration to find it. The geology is correct in much of the NE, especially NJ across to CT. But there is really little info to go on to determine if there is a huge amount, a trickle, or nothing at all. The high estimates (which if they follow typical form, are greatly exaggerated), indicate there could be enough to supply all our needs for centuries, even as energy demands increase. The low estimates I’ve seen think the range more in the 50-150 years. But there really is not enough data to go on.
Add to that the difficulty of transporting, storing, and using hydrogen, and IMO it still looks like a true “hydrogen economy” is a pipe-dream that could never really get close to happening. But I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Chiming in late (as usual for me).
I’ve had one experience with an EV for now. Rented a Tesla at Midway to go home to see Mom. I don’t like how they drive. I don’t like trying to figure out HOW to make them go either. There wasn’t anyone around to answer questions…ugh. When I let off the gas, it was like hitting the brakes. Ick. But the kicker was getting it re-charged. Mom lived 35miles away from Midway. By the time I got home…yep, definitely a need to charge it up the next day before returning it. FINALLY figured out where to go using my phone. That darn computer on the car was frustrating. Tap here, tap there, tap everywhere. But I had a plan and knew where to go to charge it up. Bad neighborhood for me to be in…but that was the closest charging place.
So here comes Sunday to go back. Mom had an emergency…so I cancelled my flight, but I still returned the car. And I didn’t charge it up. Normally in a gas car, I’d have to buy 3 gallons. In the electric car, the rental company charged me $90 to charge it up. Nothing I could do but suck it up. Had an emergency. But dang…
My brother has had two hybrid cars (Toyota Avalon and I forgot what kind of SUV he has now), and he has been happy with both. I drive my cars until the engine dies for the most part – heck, we have to put a new engine in my husband’s truck as I type this. I don’t feel like the grid is truly there to support EV’s and my 12 hour drive to go see my son would be longer – and that means a hotel…so more expensive as well.
I was raised to subscribe to the notion devotion that NOTHING is more important than family, no matter what the cost - so I salute your sacrifice.
ETA:
May I make so bold as to ask how well your precious mother is getting along, now?
Yes, I’ve heard that it’s a different driving experience; lot’s of people getting into accidents because their reflexes are wrong; but that gets better with more time behind the wheel.
Let me guess; Hertz?
I’ve seen more than one report of Hertz charging outrageous amounts for “fill-ups” on EVs. I think there might even be some court action going on over it, but not sure.
Considering the need to learn to drive differently, and the fact that people getting a rental car are probably not familiar with the area (and especially not where to find chargers), IMO the rental market is not yet the place for EVs.
And the whole “touch-screen” thing that seems the norm in EVs and becoming more common in ICE cars annoys me. I want to just be able to feel the control for the A/C or the radio; I don’t want to have to take my eyes off the road, select the right menu, then swipe or whatever to get something done.
