

Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Fuel cells are 'so bullshit' - ot
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/10/22/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-fuel-cells-are-so-bullshit/

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sdoering
I was laughing out loud after reading this bit:

In respect for the Supercharge Stations: "Consisting of between 40 and 50
stations, these stations will allow the entire German population to be within
reach of a quick-charge and not have to drive more than 200 kilometers (124
miles) to get to the next."

Sorry, but does this guy know anything about the German population? Does he
know how far the average drive goes? I believe nobody, let me say this again:
Nobody will ever drive 124 miles just to "supercharge" his Tesla.

This would mean 2h drive to the Supercharge Station and 2 hours driving back.

Nobody would even travel 20 miles to do that.

I really have a ton of respect for his engineering work. Really I do, but he
should just invest in some market research first, before stating that much
bullshit.

If Germans really shall think about supercharging, there has to be a station
within 5 miles, be it in a city, or be it in a more rural area. Or every about
50 miles, on a "autobahn" (highway).

[edit: Typo]

~~~
ZeroGravitas
If you have an electric car then the nearest charger will generally be at your
house at which you can top up every night.

So the "superchargers" are only needed for long journeys that take you out of
the car's normal range and so require a quick recharge at some point.

~~~
sdoering
Yes, I know this. But being underway and having to plan my long trip in such a
way, that I have to reach a Supercharger every some hours would be a little
bit too much hassle for the average German cardriver.

Therefore I stated, that every 50 miles on a highway would be ok, as this is
something, that would work for long trips within Germany.

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codecrusade
Question: Doesn’t it take more energy to produce a solar panel than that panel
will ever produce in its serviceable life?

Elon: The idea that a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel cannot pay back its energy
investment is flat out wrong by a huge margin, but I've heard it repeated by
many otherwise intelligent people.

Martin: This reminds me of otherwise intelligent people who think of hydrogen
as a fuel – who don’t realize that it takes lots more energy to create
hydrogen gas and pressurize it than you could ever get out of it with a fuel
cell (or any other way).

Elon: Right. The analysis for photovoltaics is straightforward and has been
done by disparate researchers around the world, with the payback results in
recent studies varying only by a year or two.

[http://www.teslamotors.com/de_CH/node/3925](http://www.teslamotors.com/de_CH/node/3925)

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Zoomla
Hydrogen can be safely stored without using high pressures.

For example: "Hydrides chosen for storage applications provide low reactivity
(high safety) and high hydrogen storage densities."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage#Chemical_stor...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_storage#Chemical_storage).

It almost seems like Elon doesn't like fuel cells because of his battery
investments.

