Running on empty: surviving a hydrogen-powered road trip

We attempt to cross California in a car powered entirely by hydrogen gas — a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). Along the way, we meet other early adopters of this tech, and find out why the world seems to be choosing battery electric cars over hydrogen.

0:00 Intro
01:01 The rise and fall of hydrogen-powered cars
02:07 California's Hydrogen Highway today
02:48 Picking up our Toyota Mirai
03:32 Learning how to fuel
04:37 Bay Area hydrogen drivers
06:31 Roadtripping to Harris Ranch
07:41 Harris Ranch rest stop
08:36 Waiting for other hydrogen road trippers
09:27 The largest Tesla supercharger
10:00 James Sweet Bonsai
10:25 The Steakout
12:23 Roadtripping to Los Angeles
13:15 Los Angeles hydrogen drivers
15:03 Is there a future for hydrogen fuel?

[TheVerge]

What would be your car of choice for a 320-mile road trip?

[RtotheJellyO]

The little detail of seeing a bonsai tree on the dash after they leave Harris Ranch was a nice touch.

[samin]

No one told Rebecca that she could get a Bolt for $15k as well. That stealership took her for a ride.

[volt]

I've never seen a video from these two from the Verge before, I thought it was a very fun and informative video, great job guys

[drunkenhobo]

For anyone wondering, the total global sales figures for fully electric battery cars last year was 9, 500, 000.

For hydrogen fuel cell cars it was 8, 500.

Lamborghini sold more vehicles. That's how rare hydrogen vehicles are.

[supergeek]

Fun fact: Harris ranch is also where the only Tesla battery swap station was back in the day. You’d swap in a battery and then you had to come back and retrieve your original battery on the return trip

[connor]

This country, not just CA needs to put a big focus on high speed rail and local public transportation to get cars off the road

[thegareth]

A few years back, it felt like eventually every science YouTuber would do the "Hey Hydrogen is really good" video (sponsored by Toyota).

[ev_kimchi]

yeah so we had a 2019 Hyundai Nexo, and we drove to LA from the Bay Area twice round trip. The second time, Harris Ranch ran out of fuel in the time it took us to drive from the Bay Area down to it (and past the point of no return). We got the last room at their motel overnight, and had to wait until their (diesel-powered) fuel truck showed up the next day for its delivery. Pro tip: they have a really good steak restaurant and gift shop. We always felt like we were living in the 1972 OPEC oil crisis with our Nexo, and we dumped it early off of its lease for a BEV. At some point, life is too short to wait at True Zero stations and have a car that's a science experiment.

[NickVanHouse]

lmfao they bought a bonsai! amazing team

[kolwer]

Toyota literally gives out these cars for free. Used they’re between $8K-$18K depending on the year, trim and miles. But Toyota will give you a $15K hydrogen card. If you live in LA, have a short commute and live close to a fueling station you can pretty much get this car for free until your card runs out of money lol.

[companymen]

Using electricity to convert water to hydrogen then back to electricity seems like a BEV with extra steps.

[CateChapelle]

imagine buying a car that can't leave california lol

[philipershler]

This was a very honest look at “The Hydrogen Highway”. It was amazing that you hung out in the middle of nowhere as long as you did to talk a driver trying to make the trip that you were attempting.

[anudeepmufc]

This is a departure from the regular "The Verge" video and I really liked it. For anyone who is into cars, I'm sure the "hydrogen dream" seemed really promising and sort of the best eco-friendly alternative to regular gasoline. Seeing the reality of it was great - thanks for putting this together. It was really educational to actually listen to the people who are living with a hydrogen car day-to-day.

Great work, guys! Keep it up.

[JoshuaVarghese]

Fun Fact: The building two buildings over, literally in the same parking lot is actually Tesla‘s first and only battery swap station.

They once had a program that never made it past the trial phase where you could drive in swap your battery in 90 seconds and continue your trip down to LA. Then on your way back up, you would pick up your original battery again, which would be fully charged at that point.

[Defianthuman]

6:30 its nice to know that the route guidance lady is the same as in my 2008 Prius.

[johny]

Huge thumb up for waiting at the hydrogen station to see someone !

[joeynessily]

In simple terms, a HFCEV is just an EV like any but it's just got a tiny battery in it and a rediculously complicated and inconvient onboard charging system. It still runs on electricity.. it's just someone has gone to the trouble of turning that electricity into a liquid which can leak through stainless at significant expense.

[ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

There are no public hydrogen fueling stations outside of the 59 or so in California. Add to that the unreliability of those stations, hydrogen shortages and high fuel prices. Then consider that there are less than 20, 000 privately owned/leased HFCVs on the road. Coupled with the advances in battery technology (chemistry, energy density, range, safety, etc.), and the future of hydrogen for transport quickly evaporates.

Lastly, what HFCV manufacturers don't talk about is the longevity of the fuel cell and the high cost of replacement. None of this makes any sense. Hydrogen for transport is a distraction. The time, energy and effort should be concentrated in building out the public DC fast charging network and increases the reliability of the existing chargers. Regardless of range, mass EV adoption won't occur until people can feel confident in the availability and reliability of the public charging infrastructure.