The car has not yet been invented. A French tinkerer, who previously failed to construct a functional electric motor, presents a futuristic vehicle with three wheels. This is called Hippomobil, but it is not powered by horses, but by a hydrogen engine. The hoped-for commercial success did not materialize in the 1860s, also because the engine designed by Etienne Lenior works without compression and therefore develops very little power – the vehicle does not move faster than a hiker. The history of hydrogen engines is rich in great, but ultimately failed, ideas.
This is not due to hydrogen as an energy carrier. It does not occur in nature. Processes for technical production on the basis of renewable electricity are known, however, the efficiency is up to 80 percent. Even transport on board a vehicle can be managed despite the volatile nature of the substance, with high-pressure storage at 350 or 700 bar having established itself as the standard. Its chemical properties are even conducive to its use as fuel. Calculated per kilo, the calorific value of hydrogen is around three times higher than that of gasoline. Although the H2 minimolecule needs a relatively large amount of oxygen for complete metabolism, a mixture is still ignitable even with a large excess of air. In addition, the hydrogen combustion takes place with a flame spread of up to 500 meters per second, ten times faster than with gasoline. But isn’t the idea of burning hydrogen in an engine old? Isn’t using it in a fuel cell the better alternative?