By any goal measure, and even in case you assist his insurance policies, Donald Trump isn’t match to be president. He’s too outdated, his thoughts is gone, he’s scared to debate, he’s dodging interviews, and nothing he says makes any sense. Take, for instance, his present obsession with hydrogen vehicles blowing up his viewers. No, I don’t imply one thing insane that he stated as soon as. Trump retains mentioning hydrogen vehicles exploding, usually mentioning {that a} member of the viewers who can be unrecognizable after the explosion.
Now, earlier than we get too far, hydrogen fuel-cell autos aren’t the Hindenburg, and automakers design them with crash security in thoughts. It’s fully attainable a hydrogen automotive has exploded someplace sooner or later, however the one instance I might discover was a latest story concerning the Ukrainian navy deliberately turning the gas cell from a Toyota Mirai right into a bomb to kill Russian invaders hellbent on war-criming their method by way of the nation. It isn’t a problem within the U.S. and gained’t be except MAGA crazies borrow a web page out of Ukraine’s playbook.
Precise examples of hydrogen explosions seem like restricted to a truck transporting hydrogen gas in Delaware and a hydrogen fueling station explosion in Norway.
Like every stump speech, Trump repeats a number of of the identical strains each time he goes off on his anti-hydrogen rants. Amongst different nonsensical claims, he repeatedly calls hydrogen a brand new know-how. Even in case you can carry your self to forgive that blatant Isaac de Rivaz erasure, what concerning the far more latest GM Electrovan? Toyota’s work with the FCHV? Honda and the FCX? The Toyota Mirai? Hyundai’s Nexo? None of those are new and, extra importantly, none of them have truly caught on. As a result of it’s a rubbish thought for passenger autos and can actually solely ever work for industrial trucking.
If the above video had simply been a one-off occasion, that may have been one factor. As a substitute, Trump has continued to journey across the nation speaking concerning the risks of hydrogen vehicles. I used to be capable of finding no less than 5 extra situations the place he repeated practically an identical claims, proper all the way down to telling the viewers they’ll be unrecognizable in the event that they’re ever in a hydrogen-powered automotive when it explodes. They’re additionally all so comparable that there actually isn’t a lot of a degree in embedding all of them.
Why precisely Trump has determined to make hydrogen fuel-cells enemy primary, proper up there with different People who disagree with him, nobody can say for positive. If I needed to wager, it in all probability as a result of Tesla CEO Elon Musk appointed himself Brown-Noser-in-Chief, they usually don’t wish to do something to threat slicing off the move of these Elon Bucks. In a number of of the clips, you may see him begin to trash EVs, solely to pivot to how dangerous hydrogen is. Was it one thing Musk stated? Was it one thing a staffer put in entrance of Trump to distract him from EVs, and now they will’t make him cease? Odds are, nobody will ever know till some entry journalist writes one other e-book.
Lastly, earlier than the White Knights of Hydrogen present up in pressure to yell at me for dismissing the know-how of the longer term, check out how refueling a Hyundai Nexo went for our mates on the Smoking Tire. If it nonetheless solely type of barely works in LA, how does anybody significantly suppose we’ll be capable to roll this out nationally? Yeah, not occurring.
