Hydrogen cars still haven't replaced gas cars, and for good reasons that we'll get to in a moment. But what about trains?
How does a hydrogen car work | Future technology
Germany has deployed 14 hydrogen trains in the Lower Saxony region, replacing diesel locomotives on a 60-mile network. Hydrogen is an emissions-free fuel and can kind of piggyback on existing diesel refueling infrastructure. It also seems like the perfect replacement for gas cars, because we don’t have to change the entire charging paradigm like we will for electric vehicles. But the reality, as you might have guessed, is more complicated.
"At first glance, filling up with hydrogen seems like filling up with gasoline. You pump it in and you drive," Arnas Vasiliauskas, founder of CarVertical, told Lifewire via email. "And hydrogen cars are also very pleasant to drive. They're light and have fewer moving parts, so there's less vibration, making existing hydrogen vehicles remarkably quiet and smooth to drive."
Things get tricky right away. Gas, despite its name, is a liquid at ambient temperatures, while hydrogen must be held under immense pressure to remain liquid. And hydrogen is even trickier than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
