Automotive CEO's argue about Hydrogen vs Electric
Back in 2021, then CEO of VW Herbert Diess had this to say about the debate of Hydrogen vs Electric;
"It's time for politicians to accept science: Green hydrogen is needed for steel, chemical, aero,...and should not end up in cars. Far too expensive, inefficient, slow, and difficult to roll out and transport. After all: no #hydrogen cars in sight.
Elon Musk followed this up by saying;
"Diess is right. Hydrogen is a staggeringly dumb form of energy storage for cars. Barely worth considering it for a rocket upper stage, which is its more compelling use."
Those are some pretty argumentative words from two of the biggest leaders in the automotive space.
However, these opinions are not shared by other CEO's in the industry. BMW, Toyota, and Hyundai are betting big on hydrogen cars with various partnerships and initiatives of their own. Probably the most famous version is the Toyota Mirai.
BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse said in a recent presentation at the World Market Leader Innovation Day in Germany:
"We think it's wrong to switch off the combustion engine in Europe, the industry will look different in terms of scale and structure than it does today if it goes to just one technology,"... "governments should remain open to all possible technological solutions."
Then more broadly, nearly all major automotive manufacturers are betting big on Hydrogen fuel cell heavy vehicles, like Trucks and Buses.
Volvo - with a Hydrogen truck capable of 1,000km range
$HYZN Hyzon Motors - Nasdaq listed company focusing solely on hydrogen commercial vehicles
Hyundai - backing both hydrogen and electric for commercial
Nikola $NKLA - another one back both hydrogen and electric
The video below is a decent look at the comparisons of Hydrogen vs Battery. Personally, I'm backing both technologies, perhaps Hydrogen is better suited to commercial and battery so I'm pleased to see automotive manufacturers and local government getting behind both.