Hi Jim

Just like forklifts, it all depends on how many hours you need to use the vehicle in a day.
If it is too many, then hydrogen starts coming into the picture, as you either need to fast charge, which still takes a certain amount of time, and perhaps more importantly can degrade the battery rapidly, or you have the vehicle out of action for long periods when it is needed, or as the last option you have the hassle of battery swapping plus the expence of spare batteries.

That is why in the fork lift world there is no clear winner, with the engineers specifying for a job, weighing the options according to their usage on a case by case basis.

They are usually pretty good at that sort of calculation.

In warehousework indoors the drive to both batteries and hydrogen was partly due to concerns about fumes from petrol etc, so both now being considered for out of doors golf course stuff indicates both the technologies moving on and increased empahasis on GHG.

Thanks Gryf.

I thought Yamaha might be a bit further along with the cost etc of their hydrogen tech as they together with Kawasaki and Suzuki are developing them for motorcycles:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjS1b_00fuDAxV2VUEAHVg4AsYQwqsBegQIDRAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZ5GUtcOXnRQ&usg=AOvVaw1e0TOu4X9j6TU39-znRwdV&opi=89978449

But your correction is fair.
That sort of cost indicates that this is still protyping.
When and if they hit production, of course they will be selling for prices nothing like that, or they would not sell.

Here in the US golf carts typically cover less than 10 miles on any given day and those that are actually used as golf carts are usually closer to half that. I would venture to guess that this demonstration vehicle is equipped with 50L capacity so they won’t suffer the embarrassment of having to demonstrate refueling it.

I was thinking “please wait while I drive to California to refuel “ wouldn’t go over well but it turns out the only hydrogen stations in FL are in the Orlando area where they are. Still it may not be legal for them to drive one of these to a station. It also would not look good to have the dispenser freeze to their vehicle or other common issues.

The large capacity tanks may make sense since they may not know what pressure a station will be able to accommodate.

For combustion engine, why not use methane made from the combination of biomass with the addition of green hydrogen from solar and wind. The addition of green H2 to the biomass can double the yield of biomethane per unit of biomass. Additionally, green H2 can be mixed with the biomethane to enhance combustion speed and to further increase the fraction of green H2.

Up to 20-30% of H2 can be mixed with methane for use with existing natural gas infrastruction, so the combination of biomass and solar/wind H2 would really increase renewable energy penetration. The use of methane or methane/H2 mix would need much lower volume of fuel tank, such that only 1 tank under the front seat would be needed, allowing for luggage space in the rear.

So, the most practical development is not really an H2 economy, but an H2-enhanced biomethane economy that can use both solar/wind energy and biomass that will take advantage of existing natural gas infrastructure and existing combustion engine manufacturing assets.

Tens of millions of car and trucks around the world are already using natural for fuel, so the technology is already mature and practical. Why re-invent the wheel to develope H2-combustion engine, except for niche usage like indoor/ware house engines that cannot release carbon monoxide, and aviation that should use Liquid H2 to take advantage of the extreme lightness of LH2 that will double the payload capacity for a given BTU of fuel energy.

DME is a popular green fuel in China.
I am not too up on the merits and demerits of using it instead of methanol, but it would appear to be another alternative.