[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

https://fordauthority.com/2022/10/ford-super-duty-lineup-will-probably-go-hydrogen-before-electric/

Cliffs:
-Ford has no plans to ever electrify the Super Duty truck lineup.
-Currently working on hydrogen for the next gen trucks.
-It's not clear if this means HFC or Hydrogen burned in traditional ICE engines, although Ford's CEO has used the term fuel cell.

“If you’re pulling 10,000 pounds, an electric truck is not the right solution,” Farley said while speaking with the media at the 2023 Super Duty unveiling in Kentucky. “And 95 percent of our customers tow more than 10,000 pounds. This is a really important segment for our country and it will probably go hydrogen fuel cell"

With the probability that light duty trucks like my Ranger will mostly end up EV, I can see a hydrogen Super Duty in my future. Also the latest gen looks great imo.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Speaking of the new release (since I didn't see anything about here). I thought it was notable they dropped the 6.2 and went all in on OHV with the new 6.8.

I'm curious about this new engine. It appears to make a lot of torque. It could be a real winner. I've typically not been satisfied with the larger gas engines (The Triton V10 in my Econoline has been a real disappointment).

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

have you driven a 7.3? All the tritons were pretty meh IMO.

I have not.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Where will people get the hydrogen

Gestures broadly at most of the planet

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Truck stops. When you've got a bigass trailer it's a PITA and/or impossible to get into most regular gas stations anyway.

Yes, truck stops are where I would expect to see that infrastructure go in first. Get Flying J and Loves onboard in partnership with a green H network like Plug Power and boom, you've basically covered the US.
This will have to happen to supply the hydrogen semi trucks anyways, so it seems reasonable that the smaller trucks will use it as well.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

This willl make it relatively easy to continue to enjoy towing my Fifth wheel into my retirement years.

God I can't ****ing wait to retire.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

95% tow over 10,000 lbs.!?!? Not from my world view. Just a bunch guys and gals with inferiority complexes rolling into Starbucks in something they have no business driving.

Although those people exist, the majority of the Super Duty trucks I see are contractor rigs or hot shot operations. But what you see day to day probably depends a lot on where you live.
I believe the quoted 95% figure.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Is there a way you can work this topic into a separate thread with a poll?

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

As far as I can tell, UT currently has all of 0 hydrogen stations. I actually cannot see how this will work in any capacity unless there is an absolutely massive and rapid infrastructure change, everywhere.

In 2010 when the federal government mandated DEF, we went from 0 DEF pumps to almost all truck stops having DEF pumps within 5 years. And it's not simple infrastructure - the DEF storage tanks, often up to 4,000 gallons, must be stainless steel and the fluid must be kept heated while in storage.

It's the same argument EV proponents use - the infrastructure will get there. And they're right - regardless of your choice of motive power, the infrastructure to support it will come online if we need it.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Because we haven’t banned gas yet. This will be worse than diesel and gas for these trucks. And it would be worse than an EV in a daily. But if you’re hauling stuff over distance, EV is a non-starter.

H is our best bad idea.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

I just don't get why the HD trucks don't just remain operating as they are until there is better technology available that doesn't require a nationwide deployment of an arguably ****ty fuel source.

This would be ideal, but if you're an automaker you need to be prepared for legislators to yank the rug out front under you at any time. And BEV is dead in the water for large vehicles, so what else are you gonna do?

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

In theory, hydrogen can work that way too: either reform it from the natural gas connection you have at your house or split it from water (super slow and inefficient). I forget who proposed a fuel cell car that had an in-home hyrdrogen reformer (I think it was Honda)

BEVs refuel at home because that's the most convenient way to do it. Hydrogen doesn't really have to have home refueling because it can be refueled conveniently on the road. I don't expect home hydrogen to take off.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Unless the plan is to put brand new hydrogen stations all over the place, of course.

That is the plan. In June the Federal government allocated $8 billion for the development of a Hydrogen transport and refueling network in the US.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

fuel cells make electricity Ford talking out their backsides. Henry Ford was a globalist nazi

Thank you. Would anyone else like to add anything before we end the public comments portion of this meeting?

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

None of thats gonna matter though as the dollar is about to go to lightspeed hyperinflation and everyone is gonna see how badly the US and other global entities have farked the global financial system by systematically looting every single security and commodity.
/ rant

Correct. It's going to be biblically horrible and the fastest fall is probably only weeks, not months away.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Industrial scale hydrogen comes from natural gas though, not renewable energy.

Yeah but it doesn't have to. It's only because we don't have that much renewable energy, and it's expensive to build renewables, that we use cheaper nat gas.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Everyone's very fixated on efficiency but is forgetting that it won't matter how much electricity it takes to do something once most electricity is low cost renewables. There's probably a future where we go back to incandescent light bulbs in US homes because they're cheaper to make and more environmentally friendly, because energy efficiency will no longer be "a thing".

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

Biggest costs for residential solar now are installation and permitting (not the hardware).

Disagree there, the hardware is still exceptionally expensive. We just finished our installation and the breakdown was:
$21,442 for installation, trenching, and conduit.
$8,000 for engineering and permitting.
$44,163 for panels and inverters.

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

That’s a BIG array, and it’s not rooftop hardware. Having to trench probably added a lot to it as well. My 8kw array was $4k for panels, $2k for inverters, $1k for switch box and conduit. Installation, engineering. and permitting was $12k. Granted, the power wall was another $9k, but I could have gone without the power wall. I will get 30% of that back at tax time.

Lol 8kw, do you live in a shed?

 

[MandatoryOutsidePossum]

So how bout them Superduties