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Fraunhofer was Wrong:
Hydrogen Cars are Not Cleaner than Battery Electric Vehicles and Diesel Cars are Not Close
I hold them in high esteem but this study provided the misinformation that H2 Mobility paid for.
It’s not he-said she-said: you can follow along.
Hydrogen Cars are Not Cleaner than Battery Electric Vehicles and Diesel Cars are Not Close
I hold them in high esteem but this study provided the misinformation that H2 Mobility paid for.
It’s not he-said she-said: you can follow along.
In a recent publication I outlined the *Top 6 Mistakes* that make electric vehicles look bad.
Author André Sternberg et al. of Fraunhofer manage to make all 6 and add 1 dirty trick.
I’ll frequently refer to my publication for explanation and references. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Author André Sternberg et al. of Fraunhofer manage to make all 6 and add 1 dirty trick.
I’ll frequently refer to my publication for explanation and references. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
The original Fraunhofer study can be found here: ise.fraunhofer.de/de/presse-und-…
Let's start with my end-result. The arrows show what happened after I made the corrections:
electric vehicles clearly emit less CO2 than hydrogen,
and diesel. (Simple chart at the end later.)
Let's start with my end-result. The arrows show what happened after I made the corrections:
electric vehicles clearly emit less CO2 than hydrogen,
and diesel. (Simple chart at the end later.)
First we remove a 'dirty trick': Sternberg assumes hydrogen will be made from wind (assumed to cause 14 gr CO2/kWh) and batteries will be charged with solar (assumed 48 gr CO2/kWh).
To compare apples with apples, I use solar for both.
More details below the picture.
To compare apples with apples, I use solar for both.
More details below the picture.
Sternberg assumes cars and batteries are thrown away after 150k km. But we know diesel cars can last 300k and batteries even 600k. So I assume 300k.
More info beneath chart, in my article and .
More info beneath chart, in my article and .
Sternberg bases energy needs for battery production on an outdated 2014 scientific paper. But with scale, cell manufacturing became much more efficient.
Also electricity at 805 gr CO2-eq/kWh is much too high on average (e.g. for a German factory, let alone the Gigafactory).
Also electricity at 805 gr CO2-eq/kWh is much too high on average (e.g. for a German factory, let alone the Gigafactory).
Battery material use is based on Sternberg's own observation that a battery pack weights 7.5 kg/kWh (=135 Wh/kg) while a Tesla Model 3 is already at 6.25 kg/kWh (=160Wh/kg or 19% better) and it's not 2020 yet.
cleantechnica.com/2019/01/28/tes…
cleantechnica.com/2019/01/28/tes…
But why make diy calculations based on outdated scientific literature and untraceable “own observations”?
There are multiple recent sources and the bottom line: battery production causes around 65 kg CO2/kWh, not 133 kg/kWh as Fraunhofer claims.
There are multiple recent sources and the bottom line: battery production causes around 65 kg CO2/kWh, not 133 kg/kWh as Fraunhofer claims.
Finally let's look at the average electricity mix that is assumed for electric vehicles and emits far too much CO2.
To make the report more relevant we took EU electricity over the lifetime of the electric vehicle. The result is shown in the chart and explained in the article.
To make the report more relevant we took EU electricity over the lifetime of the electric vehicle. The result is shown in the chart and explained in the article.
This chart shows the end result: battery electric vehicles drivetrains are really much better for the climate than any other drivetrain we know, but hydrogen is still much better than diesel.
Please retweet if someone's arguing diesel or hydrogen emit less CO2. It's not true.
Please retweet if someone's arguing diesel or hydrogen emit less CO2. It's not true.
Ps: the authors used numbers for the chassis that included the motor (either electric or gasoline).
So this is about the *other* drivetrain components. E.g. battery, fuel cells and H2 tank.
So this is about the *other* drivetrain components. E.g. battery, fuel cells and H2 tank.
This is beneficial for the diesel because an electric motor+electronics is easier to manufactur than a diesel engine and all that surrounds it. (The example is even a diesel hybrid.) Could easily add 1-2 ton CO2 to the diesel (~5 gr/km).
Pss. Just to be clear: H2 could be vital in the transition to renewables, there will be H2 niches in transport and its environmental footprint can be almost as good as electric compared to fossil fuels: this is not H2-bashing.
Psss. These 2 things can be true at the same time:
1) Biking, vehicle sharing and public transit is much better for a city and the environment than private cars.
2) Electric vehicles are much better for the environment than diesel and gasoline and sightly better than H2.
1) Biking, vehicle sharing and public transit is much better for a city and the environment than private cars.
2) Electric vehicles are much better for the environment than diesel and gasoline and sightly better than H2.
A reaction from @FraunhoferISE:
My reaction to that:
