By Guest Blogger Neko Ziron
Companies and governments across the globe are eager to nail driverless technology. For instance, the Japanese government is pressuring carmakers to perfect self-driving features in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Google’s sister company Waymo recently announced that it will purchase 20,000 self-driving vehicles from Jaguar for its future ride-hailing service. This just goes to show the company’s confidence in the driverless vehicle industry.
While driverless technology has been the talk of the town for quite some time, concerns arise over the environmental implications of autonomous vehicles. These cars may contribute to greenhouse gas emissions if they are not made to use renewable energy. On the bright side, however, companies today are exploring solutions to address this very issue.
Ride-sharing service Lyft announced its environment-friendly goals, stating that all of its driverless vehicles will be powered by 100% renewal energy. The company predicts that it will provide 1 billion rides using electric driverless cars. It was noted in the article how Lyft plans to secure renewable energy certificates in order to counter the emissions caused by fueling electric, autonomous vehicles.
Electricity-powered self-driving cars may be the answer, but other enterprises are looking towards alternate solutions. Earlier this year, Hyundai’s fleet of five autonomous hydrogen-fuelled cars successfully completed a 118-mile trip from Seoul to Pyeongchang. According to Automotive News’ report on Hyundai’s test, the automaker believes that fuel cells are a better option than purely electric vehicles, since the artificial intelligence systems in driverless cars eat up a lot of electricity. Because of that, electric-powered vehicles may not last on the road for too long when finally in use.
Hyundai used its own vehicles to make this comparison. For instance, the company’s Ionic EV runs on a 30-kilowatt-hour battery, while the Nexo is loaded with 13 pounds of hydrogen in three tanks. These can generate a total of 108 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is clearly more than its electric vehicle’s power.
Hyundai is not alone in its support for hydrogen fuel cells. Other automakers like Toyota and Honda are also investing in hydrogen-powered vehicles. Both the Honda Clarity and the Toyota Mirai are enjoying sales success in areas that have hydrogen stations, such as California. The majority of automotive companies seem to believe that electric-powered cars are the answer, but if given more time and investment, perhaps the minority can prove otherwise.
Using hydrogen fuel cells is just one way to improve fuel efficiency in vehicles. Fuel efficiency can be enhanced further with the use of onboard electronic logging devices, especially as we wait for driverless car technology to finally hit the world’s highways. Verizon Connect’s summary of electronic logging devices discusses how they can provide insights that drivers can use to correct fuel-wasting habits, such idling, speeding, and aggressive driving. Incidentally, the data provided by these devices can also work to improve road safety. By combining onboard devices and renewable energy, one can reduce both the negative impact a vehicle has on the environment and road safety risks.
Hydrogen Cars Now regularly updates its website on news of hydrogen technology, so be sure to visit from time to time.
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