Three Cheers for Orkney

[pamphonica]

I saw the Mirai at the last NPL open day and was impressed with its simplicity. I was very attracted to it, as I have a real technical dislike of hybrids. They seem such a bodge, an interim stage. You carry around 800kg of cells in a Prius, for a range extension of only 30km, and the fuel economies claimed are far from real! However, unless you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles or produce hydrogen yourself (like NPL), those lovely hydrogen fuel-cell cars, able to recharge for a 300km range in less than 10 minutes are pretty much useless in the UK for now.

Prof David MacKay, Regius Professor of Engineering at Cambridge wrote a wonderful, must-read (and completely free to read) scientific analysis of alternative energy implications: http://www.withouthotair.com/about.html.
Do read it, at least the 10-page synopsis. Unfortunately, he reckons hydrogen powered vehicles are a dud - using 254kWh per 100km vs about 80kWh/100km for fossil fuels and 15kWh/100km for a Tesla.

Back to the drawing board for now...

-Jeremy