By any goal measure, and even for those who assist his insurance policies, Donald Trump isn’t match to be president. He’s too previous, 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, typically declaring {that a} member of the viewers who could be unrecognizable after the explosion.
Now, earlier than we get too far, hydrogen fuel-cell automobiles aren’t the Hindenburg, and automakers design them with crash security in thoughts. It’s solely attainable a hydrogen automobile has exploded someplace in some unspecified time in the future, however the one instance I may discover was a latest story in regards to the Ukrainian army deliberately turning the gasoline cell from a Toyota Mirai right into a bomb to kill Russian invaders hellbent on war-criming their manner by means of the nation. It isn’t a difficulty 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 look like restricted to a truck transporting hydrogen gasoline in Delaware and a hydrogen fueling station explosion in Norway.
Like several stump speech, Trump repeats a number of of the identical traces each time he goes off on his anti-hydrogen rants. Amongst different nonsensical claims, he repeatedly calls hydrogen a brand new know-how. Even for those who can carry your self to forgive that blatant Isaac de Rivaz erasure, what in regards to the way 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 really caught on. As a result of it’s a rubbish thought for passenger automobiles and can actually solely ever work for business trucking.
If the above video had simply been a one-off occasion, that may have been one factor. As an alternative, Trump has continued to journey across the nation speaking in regards to the risks of hydrogen vehicles. I used to be capable of finding not less than 5 extra situations the place he repeated almost similar claims, proper right down to telling the viewers they’ll be unrecognizable in the event that they’re ever in a hydrogen-powered automobile 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 certain. If I needed to wager, it in all probability as a result of Tesla CEO Elon Musk appointed himself Brown-Noser-in-Chief, and so they don’t wish to do something to threat reducing off the movement of these Elon Bucks. In a number of of the clips, you possibly can 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 ebook.
Lastly, earlier than the White Knights of Hydrogen present up in power to yell at me for dismissing the know-how of the longer term, check out how refueling a Hyundai Nexo went for our pals on the Smoking Tire. If it nonetheless solely kind of barely works in LA, how does anybody significantly assume we’ll have the ability to roll this out nationally? Yeah, not taking place.
