Toyota ends battery deal with Tesla
Does this mean they will no longer be profitable?
Why doesn't anyone pick up Honda's fuel cell tech?
Toyota ends battery deal with Tesla
Does this mean they will no longer be profitable?
Why doesn't anyone pick up Honda's fuel cell tech?
Not surprised. I just don't see Tesla becoming a mainstream brand anytime soon unless there is a major breakthrough in battery technology.
BMW went all in on hydrogen cells a few years back and had some really great results that didn't pan out due to rumored issues with how to have a fueling network that can deal with explosive things under great pressure
... and they are making EVs now. I wonder what Toyota is bringing to the table that BMW didn't think of?
As I've said before, the future is in very, very large capacitors. Probably involving nano-technology. When the government has enough capacitors for all their new-fangled rail guns and laser cannons, then we can get the leftovers to run our cars and houses with.
How are the controling the discharge rate? I know that has always been the issue wiht capacitors as opposed to batteries.
Where the hell is my tiny nuke powered electric car that runs forever on a just a few kibbles of safe, disposable plutonium?
Damn Illuminati keepin' all the cool E36 M3 down!
Flight Service wrote: Toyota ends battery deal with Tesla Does this mean they will no longer be profitable? Why doesn't anyone pick up Honda's fuel cell tech?
Good- maybe they will then buy them from us or GM- since we are both making plants in the US to make batteries. It would be nice to keep the money here.
Fuel cell tech- everyone is working really, really, really hard on it.
But it's really, really, really, REALLY hard.
(funny side note- one may assume that fuel cells cars are cleaner than gas cars- but that only counts for NOx and CO- HC's can be higher than many PZEV cars, since there's generally some left over HC's in H2, based on how it's made in bulk these days. It's a problem that can be fixed, but it's kind of amusing)
Tesla is planning on building their own battery factory soon, which probably has something to do with the Toyota deal.
funniest thing in this whole article.
“It’s obvious Toyota doesn’t see a market for electric vehicles," “They really see the future of the zero-emission vehicle as the hydrogen vehicle,”
I think what you meant to say is “It’s obvious Toyota doesn’t see a market for battery vehicles,” Because fuel cell vehicle produce electricity.
Dr. Hess wrote: As I've said before, the future is in very, very large capacitors.
Great. So when there's a mechanical problem, your car doesn't overheat and catch on fire slowly enough to escape, it just instantaneously fries you in your seat with a giant KA-ZAPP .
I remember reading a year or so ago, that this was Elon Musk's plan all along. They recently purchased a massive facility to make their own batteries for cheaper, with the plan of selling to all auto manufacturers. Tesla isnt going anywhere. If any company is going to bring innovation to battery manufacturing, my money is on Musk.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25761219/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-gigafactory-will-take-battery
Duke wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: As I've said before, the future is in very, very large capacitors.Great. So when there's a mechanical problem, your car doesn't overheat and catch on fire slowly enough to escape, it just instantaneously fries you in your seat with a giant **KA-ZAPP** .
well.. just means they clean you up with a dustpan and brush...
On the subject of Fuelcells.. They have had these for boats and RVs for a while and are not building larger for homes.
I thought it was pretty much because the EV RAV 4 was an expensive ($50k) short range (103mi) turd that nobody wants.
The rav4 EV was the epitomy of a compliance car. It's exactly as stupid as the california regulatory scheme that spawned it (after 'killing the electric car' years earlier).
Hydrogen is ridiculously impractical from a logistical standpoint. I think all the automakers messing with fuel cells are doing it to avoid building EVs that present 'the threat of a good example' and are planning to spin off or sell off that technology into non-automotive applications at some point down the line when they eventually have to get with the program and start selling EVs. As mentioned, fuel cell cars still use batteries and electric motors, so it is a way of hedging their bet by developing EV technology but not actually releasing it in any meaningful way. But eventually, denying the inevitable sea change will become life threatening for those companies, and a lot of them will end up buying batteries they cant mass produce themselves.... from Tesla. 
So, instead of a dangerous capacitor bank, let's use something not dangerous, like a highly pressurized tank of Hydrogen gas. What could go wrong there?
Yes, let's just go back to big sloshy bottles of volatile fuel 
Toyota is using supercaps on their LMP1 cars. So you know they're working on the discharge details.
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