Sustainability and the Future of Self-Driving Cars and EVs

IntellZine just wrote an article on how to Invest in the Future of Self-Driving Cars and EVs (https://www.intellzine.com/2020/12/invest-in-future-of-self-driving-cars.html).

What’s not really covered is the Sustainability of EVs, self-driving cars etc. Internal combustion engines predominantly use fossil fuels but they can use renewable ethanol or biodiesel. Electric cars have the most promise because it is much easier to produce electricity from renewable sources like hydro, wind and solar. Plus, wind and solar have become the best and cheapest source of stationary electricity, even considering the impact of batteries.

But one mobile power method that is not considered as much is hydrogen. In terms of stationary electricity, fuel cells can be used for emergency backup power (nearly instant on) and/or for continuous power. Although there are lots of ways to make hydrogen, all you really need is energy and water. (How to get hydrogen from Energy.Gov.) Currently, the most common method, by far is from NatGas or Ammonia.

Fuel cell has interesting solutions to the battery problems, especially for range extension. Plus, hydrogen filling stations are being added along major routes, but nothing like electric charging and NatGas (see chart here). As the IntellZine article discussed, some of the fuel cell companies have gone up wildly over the last 6 months, especially Plug. Plug (PLUG) built its business on fuel cell forklifts; a super clean and very efficient approach. Investors might be looking at the future markets for fuel cell and pricing for it. Or, they might simply be wrong.