Why hydrogen, not electric, is JCB's choice for hitting zero emissions. Lord Bamford explains why

[@andyjones760]

As a HG follower and a JCB engineer, can't help but feel proud of this.

[@harrysgarage]

Thanks. And I believe it's all being privately funded by LB because he's passionate about finding a workable solution after testing battery powered machines and discovering they didn't work in the real world. I came away that day thinking it was like the ultimate example of 'men in sheds' type engineering, which the UK has always been so good at.

[@012RACECAR345]

@@harrysgarage cheers Harry. Most level headed alternate fuels/renewable content online comes from you channel.

[@SilentRacer911]

The hydrogen goal is important, making a new fuel/engine is much easier than making a new vehicle. We already have “gas” stations, what’s another fuel? BUT, we need to look into higher pressures/liquid storage for hydrogen, I don’t see it being as useful without that

[@jamessykes3965]

You should be proud.

[@eugenedreyer4805]

Quite rightly.

[@petermorris3665]

A fundamental problem with the UK Government, irrespective of red or blue, is the poor representation of science and engineering in senor political roles. Politics has always been a popular destination for arts graduates / lawyers etc. During the pandemic, for example, only 4 of Boris' 25-strong cabinet came from a science / engineer background and yet they had to make very important decisions based on complex scientific data.

[@John_Wood_]

What pandemic? What climate crisis? You see this is about politics not "The Science"TM.

[@blade-OT]

Exactly, but the outcome of that is the opposite of what you're apparently implying: were there more scientific competence in UK government, there would be much less waste of resources on the hydrogen boondoggle. Sadly that's not only the case in the UK but across the EU and in the US as well. Hydrogen as an energy carrier has zero efficiency or economic rationale, and within the decade will completely die out once sufficient capital has been burned to prove that conclusively.

[@EP-336]

The point isn’t that everyone in government is a subject matter expert in everything. Obviously the point is to consult actual engineers.

[@blade-OT]

@@EP-336 Right! This reminds me of something my 8th grade biology teacher said: intelligence isn't KNOWING something, but knowing HOW to learn about it.

[@EleanorPeterson]

​@@EP-336 - Yep.

[@tombache3426]

First, thank you to Lord Bamford for pushing this technology. Thanks to you, Harry, for bringing to the rest of us. It is really encouraging there is a practical solution coming. EV’s are with us to stay, but are not the only solution for many different types of vehicles and machines. JCB power for the combine!

[@jeffreyrwilliams9345]

@C J B smoke another one

[@rogerfroud300]

In what way is it practical when there are no Hydrogen filling stations? The only ones that existed are being closed in the UK because of the lack of customer takeup.

[@Gandalf606]

@ Tom Bache - well said!

[@andyrbush]

Hydrogen is the wrong fuel at every level.

[@ForeverNeverwhere1]

​@@andyrbush yep, it is just clean emissions at the point of use, everything else about it is a train wreck and at best as bad as oil. Just the transport of it alone will add thousands of trucks to UK roads if everyone did the same, plus hundreds of billions of investments to make it, plus the elephant in the room, it takes 3 times more energy to make than you get from it, that energy is electric. Every.penny spent on a hydrogen revolution is a waste of money. If I was a shareholder at JCB I would be livid.

[@jamesbamford7199]

Harry, thank you for bringing this type of video to us. Not being an engineer, I find them fascinating and highly educational, particularly with the multitude of comments from the other viewers. Lord Bamford and JCB should be applauded for the time and investment they are making to develop this technology. Let's hope their hard work and determination pays off in the end. The greater risk is to do nothing.

[@yscol1313]

As much as I wish hydrogen was an easy solution, it’s not. It’s not even a solution. I am an engineer and was a physicist before that.

[@jamescagney2713]

I think one needs to know the meaning of the word first.

[@ukqwerty999]

@@yscol1313 Have you called JCB and told them your findings

[@yscol1313]

@@ukqwerty999 I’ve worked with the company that supplies the EDA software to JCB and shown them the fundamentals. I would have no problem admitting I’m wrong if any of them had a reasonable argument but they never do.

[@ukqwerty999]

@@yscol1313 Do you think they guy who upgraded the engine 50 times is just milking the r and d money out of it.

[@twarken5078]

Tremendous piece, Harry. Lord Bamford and the JCB team are an inspiration. Keep up the great work!

[@davidgrogan2635]

Lord Bamford's son is developing hydrogen powered buses in NI

[@g0fvt]

Once again a fascinating trip to JCB and Lord Bamford, the company continue to amaze me by daring to innovate. Well done Harry for having such varied content.

[@HawkMillFarm]

Good to see someone is looking after the interests of agriculture, construction and goods transport. Just need our government to catch up.

[@tonylee-UK]

Just need our government to wake up.

[@Neojhun]

@@tonylee-UK Yep wake and realize Large Scale H2 supply chain is not possible. Or worse bigger experiments with such fuel supplies will result in unnecessary Deaths.

[@zanthraxnl]

Just need our government to get out of the way. Bureaucracy has always been a decelerator for technological progress, not an accelarator.

[@jumbo7165]

@@tonylee-UK not just government my friend , id say most of the world.. they seemto think batteries ae the future, but don't see how we charge them up... hydrogen is the best source IMO :)

[@HalfdeadRider]

@@jumbo7165 To produce Hydrogen you still need that electricity, as you do to produce synthetic fuel, there is no where near enough renewable energy being produced to be fully efficient to do either with the benefits we are after. Each factory/plant (producing Hydrogen/Synthetic fuel), needs their own renewable energy source to really move towards carbon neutral vehicles. But still Hydrogen and synthetic fuel production still needs to be invested in way more than EV production, as overall, from raw materials being mined, to the death of the batteries etc etc etc, EV's are not going to be the greener/cleaner vehicles, combustion engines could be, and should be! Hydrogen to replace Diesel, and synthetic fuel to keep our petrol combustion engines going, but becoming carbon neutral, eventually!

[@davidtwittey4613]

Excellent! Thank you Lord AB & Harry Both of you are farmers and understand the need for engines that can work under load for many hours If only the UK Gov't could rapidly put in place incentives to do precisely what you have said Harry - Free up the UK's engineers to innovate the hydrogen solutions we so badly need One crucial piece of 'gloss over' in both JCB pieces The transport & storage of the hydrogen Forgive me if it was covered it could be a hurdle This step needs to be transparent

[@bill6590]

Storage problem has already been solved in the USA, and deployed in Honda and Toyota cars, along with several USA Heavy "Semi," truck manufacturers.

[@budbud2509]

Yes I agree , but with a few additions . There is NO climate emergency , Please see Judith Curry climatologist Patrick Moore founder of Greenpeace. Stephen Koonin Obama's advisor who has swapped sides. Dr Willie Soon climatologist .The Heartland Institute , to name a few. Yes we need to get away from fossil fuels , but don't kid yourself its going to change the weather. For 95% of the life of this planet CO2 has been higher ( up to 8,000 PPM ) For 95% of the life of this planet its been warmer than today , BTW I'm and engineer who worked on JCB products in the 80's Fantastic progress by JCB .

[@cannibalholocaust3015]

If Hydrogen is sort of a truck/ construction only deal then that problem will be solved. We already have fuel bowsers for on site, it’s a lot different from infrastructure required for cars.

[@cannibalholocaust3015]

Good point on trucker stops.

[@lutomson3496]

you do realize that the generation uses more energy then it produces...go buy a Toyota hydrogen car and see how well it is to use...it isnt and ive had one dont believe the garbage of how humans are in charge of weather, we are not..and I have owned a hydrogen Toyota here in the US and what a fail..while the US exports natural gas to europe, due to the Ukraine destroying the Nord pipeline, and our energy costs have skyrocketed, and many busses vehicles here are fueled by propane and natural gas as it burns clean...but lets not mix facts with fiction

[@minghengtan]

This is brilliant. Thanks Harry. Very happy to see a British company spending on such R&D. I wish JCB all the success and rebuild the motor engineering industry. terrific… thank you once again for bringing this to us….

[@ShelsleyT2GT]

Very very interesting video Harry, thanks for making this. I watched your previous video at JCB and was inspired by what they were doing. Having watched this video it proves what I've thought for a long time, its clear that governments and car manufacturers are rushing into making everything electric without fully investigating the options out there. All credit to JCB who will, without doubt, do some great business out of this and rightly so

[@neilfairless4589]

It astounds me that we are leading an industry in innovation and lacking behind in infrastructure. Good on Lord Bamford and JCB. I can see them being very busy soon when that gets the green light.

[@mikesage9544]

I follow closely on this Harry. The Government will miss another engineering export oppertunity, job creation etc. I am chuffed to bits with Lord Bamfords efforts. He and the team have their heart and soal invested in this technology. Once againg Britain could be a world leader. Sooner rather than later. Dare I say that the Lord is a modern day visionary? With beautiful diction? Thank for the compelling viewing Harry. Back to the Forest of Blackness here in Germany. Bw Mike

[@Waddington35]

Harry, Exelby Services have announced they will be installing hydrogen refuelling at 2 of their key stations (one on the M6 and one on the A1). They predominantly serve the HGV sector. It is companies like this that we need to drive this forward and make it more accessible and viable. Fantastic video and well done to JCB for investing so much into it.

[@jonjones1290]

'Real world' approach to finding a solution to the worlds needs 👌 perhaps there is hope we can belong to a country to be proud of. Awesome work Lord Bamford and your team. Tip top Harry for your production. 👍

[@ljd8520]

I am so proud of this great British company, long may we show what we can achieve.

[@rjdavies1982]

Hi Harry, I really think you’re one of the best factual programme presenters here in the UK right now. I can easily imagine you presenting something like tomorrows world or old school top gear. I guess mainstream television is less relevant today but I think you’re clearly somebody who would be at home on national television…..obviously keep doing the KZbin stuff though, it’s far better than anything on television at the moment! Cheers, Richard

[@royeady800]

If he was on the BBC, a bunch of non educated idiots would be telling him what to say!

[@chrishb7074]

Harry has full editorial control here, not guaranteed in traditional TV, he does need better ways to monetise his content than just the YT algorithm. Amazon Prime maybe, they seem to like Cotswolds farmers?

[@andrewdalziel4006]

I agree. Harry you are one of the best communicators in the business. You could show much of the mainstream media how it is done.

[@christianpratt]

A great update - more than enough tech (allowing for their intellectual property!) and a sensible chat about commercial application, beyond the engineering. Thanks Harry.

[@MarcosGazza]

Great to see that such a prominent company is forging forward in developing this technology. Really good to see that more sustainable alternatives to Electric are out there.

[@barbarjinx3802]

There aren’t and hydrogen isn’t one of them.

[@wyattfamily8997]

Hope their Seciruty is good or China will do their usual and "borrow" it.

[@mb-3faze]

Hydrogen is a nonsense fuel for vehicular transport of all forms. The sooner JCB understand this, the better.

[@johnfoster3886]

Thank you Harry for this article. Probably one of your best. Listening to Lord Bamford is truly an education. He, as with the rest of us is clearly unimpressed with our politicians. Our only hope is that the engineering world will press ahead and make the world better anyway.

[@andyash5675]

What a superbly impressive individual Lord Bamford is. We need more leaders like that.

[@halstrong2737]

I live in Seattle USA and just this past week in the eastern part of Washington State the first test of a hydrogen powered aircraft was conducted successfully. Harry's video is fascinating, showing us there may be an important future for hydrogen as a fuel for heavy equipment and vehicles (and perhaps aircraft and more).

[@chisaomusician7752]

Rolls Royce has tested their jet engine running on hydrogen gas. Shouldn't be long before the transition.

[@chisaomusician7752]

@just_here That's almost as much space taken up as your doubt. But i would still rather fly with hydrogen combustion than the awkwardness you're carrying.

[@grossibp]

@@just_here any details on that capacity of hydrogen in planes by hand? I'd like to know more. Thanks.

[@waylonk2453]

What a wonderful video! I enjoyed your first visit to JCB, and I'm delighted to see that they've come leaps and bounds in the two years. I also like the optimistic outlook of widespread hydrogen adoption. Electric just won't cut it it seems.

[@budbud2509]

Especially if you want to fly anywhere , Tesla battery weighs 525 kgs ..... What would a 747 battery weigh ? .......... Its not really possible .

[@Jasonj___8]

Thank you Harry this is an extremely thought provoking area that we all need to consider over electric 👍🚒

[@majormojo]

Super interesting tech and I believe Lord Bamford’s instinct on hydrogen electric hybrid vehicles is spot on. I’m keen to see how the hydrogen fuel storage and refueling systems work in a future video in this series. Thanks Harry!

[@dannyporter76]

Great video, so interesting to see how far the JCB team have come with it. Lord Bamford hit the nail in the head hybrid being the solution where electric is used in city environment and the hydrogen for longer journeys. Hopefully the UK government can wake up and start supporting this technology. Thanks Harry.

[@chiefsilverback]

Imagine a Chevy Volt with an hydrogen combustion engine.

[@stuartclarke8806]

The $1 per kg target figure of hydrogen, compared to the $3 per kg for diesel (and presumably petrol) would be a real game-changer. Not only is it a win for green energy, assuming we can harness renewable energy to produce it, but a win for consumers if it's 1/3 cheaper to produce as well as a win for industry and jobs to develop and produce this fuel. Brilliant video as usual Harry, let's just hope more manufacturers and governments get on board!

[@ianbardon8581]

Gov tax & vat, they are not going to let us get away with a cheaper option.🤔

[@ronpalmer1371]

@@ianbardon8581 I thought the same, No way they will see us better off.

[@igordewit7357]

@@ianbardon8581 Sadly,you are probably right..

[@zapfanzapfan]

Electricity would have to be 2 cent/kWh for that.

[@richharper8159]

Doesn’t it use 3 times as much electricity to produce the same kWh of energy, ie just use the electricity?

[@MrSheymie]

Love it. This makes sense! Diverting off-peak wind energy generation to H2 production is a very exciting prospect.

[@TheLastMoccasin]

Or you could just charge a battery with it and then have over 80% of that energy available for use instead of less than 30% 🤷

[@timgreen9299]

Loved this video especially your final takeaway @33mins in... 'we will require multiple solutions, not just electric and the government need to recognise it'. This is the same for all fuel using situations from transport, industry to home heating... The electrification options are great for some, but atrocious for many, so flexibility and choice will be key to users accepting and working together to achieve net-zero! Thank you Harry for producing such a comprehensive and balanced video!

[@TomSilver_42]

IMHO most interesting was insight of the Lord Bamford at aroun 25th minute into whole complexity of transportation. Brilliant. We are trying to negotiate new EuroX limit norm for cars every few years, but there are trucks, trains, heavy equipment not just bringing us to the office and sitting idle in garage, but equipment which in some case like trains or public transportation runs literally almost 24x7! And as said, it's not even on radar.

[@tonyfurneaux3399]

Wow, I am so proud to know that a good British company is going against the MADNESS of electric vehicles. This has been my hope since I first heard about H2O engines from Honda on TOP GEAR maybe 20 tears ago. Since then the world seems to have been jumping off the nearest cliff. Respect to Lord Bamford.

[@Loopyengineeringco]

EVs aren't mad. H2 FC vehicles are also EVs. The energy requirement for H2 production is the real madness, let's hope it doesn't start competing with our electricity supply which is already short. And at the same time let's hope we're not sold a Hydrogen bait & switch when we're so reliant on it that grey/blue/brown/yellow/black hydrogen becomes the norm

[@yscol1313]

@@Loopyengineeringco yeah, using hydrogen as a fuel makes zero sense when we should be using all of our green hydrogen capacity for industrial processes. The inefficiency is startling compared with BEV. And if grey hydrogen is used, you’re better off using methane directly.

[@tonyfurneaux3399]

@@Loopyengineeringco Sadly I think you are wrong, I am a Brit living in Canada, any vehicle that runs here has to be reliable, the weather is terrible in the Winter, in the Prairies, goes down to minus 50 with the wind chill, many people die. My wife and I often get snowed in for several days at a time, seriously it can get scary, we have the best vehicles we can afford, and to be honest, even these have their problems. I feel any vehicle that can make its own power on the go is the way to go, as an alternative to oil power, I would say JCB is on the right path, but it needs Honda's input to complete the cycle with the gas produced by the vehicle, as was around many years ago. The infrastructure to have EVs here would be massive, and to work out to be greener would take forever, I can't see any benefit yet. I wait with baited breath. Thanks for your side of the problem, I look forward to further comments please. Regards T

[@Loopyengineeringco]

@@tonyfurneaux3399 No doubt that extreme environments need the most reliable solutions. I don't understand why Hydrogen would be a more reliable fuel than liquid fuels like diesel. It's worse in every way. Not sure what you mean by making it's own fuel on the go. The filling stations and logistics for hydrogen distribution are expensive business. Storing it is also hard due to the leaky nature of the stuff. If you're in a really remote location you need options: electricity can come from sun, wind, rivers, generators of various fuels. Hydrogen can come only from a Hydrogen filling station or a $100,000 home station which will take electricity and produce a fraction of the energy you started with

[@colinmcnally5931]

Very interesting and informative video Harry. Great to see a British Company like JCB pushing forward with this instead of the nonsense all electric approach!!

[@julianrichards1585]

No one is saying hydrogem won't work but the lifecycle energy efficiency is very poor in terms of Kwh's in vs useful work out XX Kwh's to extract hydrogen, more Kwh's to store it compressed or liquified, more Kwh's to transport it to where it will be used then burn it in a combustion engine that wastes 60% of the energy in the hydrogen anyway. It really doesn't make sense when you could use those Kwh directly in a motor or store them a battery at 75% efficiency.

[@dsummers8191]

Long live Lord Bamford! Just imagine how quickly things would get done in the UK were he leading the country. Very interesting video. Thank you.

[@stanschloesser6725]

Thanks again Harry! Your the continuing voice of reason in the UK. Hopefully this message will also be heard in your parliament! Glad to hear my country, the US, seems to be moving in the right direction. Cheers.

[@robertlewis2]

I didn't realize how far along hydrogen IC engines are. Thanks for this informative episode.

[@arthurdardalis]

The UK government is blinkered with regard to EV’s, the issue with the public buying EV’s, is in effect akin to “the blind leading the blind”

[@Broady1001]

Awesome video Harry, thanks for bringing this back into the spotlight and it's great seeing how far JCB have come in such a short time, fingers crossed people see the benefits that this can provide out in heavy industry applications. Look forward to seeing the new video!

[@yscol1313]

Unfortunately hydrogen combustion engines will bring zero benefit for anybody. The inefficiency is insane, not to mention impracticality of the low volumetric density of hydrogen.

[@philipjackson6882]

Well done Harry & Lord Bamford! Excellent follow up interview! Thank you !!

[@rayclarke5367]

Great video Harry. I'd love to see more of this "alternative" content. And great to see Lord Bamford, one Britains top people..!

[@davidchaffey2207]

Excellent content. There is so much hydrogen bashing currently that it is inspiring to see JCB continuing to pursue their beliefs in this technology. The production cost of hydrogen is critical but gut feel (as an engineer) is that a solution can be found that is at least as good as the likely improvement in battery technology. In my view battery, cost, weight and recharging times is more difficult to resolve.

[@ianmcleod8898]

Most of the bashing on hydrogen comes from folk who just repeat garbage from somewhere else and have no understanding of the tech themselves.

[@Berry-fr5wj]

@@ianmcleod8898 Hydrogen must be a viable concern if it is being criticised via the media

[@logtothebase2]

If they want to go bust its a good solution.

[@andyrbush]

Hydrogen is not what you think as a solution it is a very serious problem.

[@geoffwoodgate7450]

This is the responsibility of one man trying to sell his cars. We all know who he is.

[@johnharvey1786]

There are quite a few issues with this video, but we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss hydrogen as a fuel. Harry does need to be a bit more questioning about some of the claims of JCB. If they are going to avoid NOx they need a combination Temperature of less than 1200 Deg C, possible but we need to see this in practice. Also normally the leaner the mix the less power, again not challenged. I have built hydrogenation facilities in labs and they often need to be in a separate building given how explosive hydrogen is and how hard it is to avoid accidental discharge. Transporting hydrogen is not easy either and sending it in pipes to homes is fraught with problems such as embrittlement. Then there will be the temptation for cost reasons to keep using blue hydrogen made from natural gas as it could be some time before green hydrogen can match it in price and as it takes three times the electrical energy to produce green hydrogen as the energy of the resultant hydrogen, why not use the electricity directly. However it’s sensible to investigate multiple solutions to a greener world but we must be clear about the issues of each option.

[@porscherain]

This is the best response I’ve seen yet. Cheers.

[@tbrdoescinema]

I think you’re being far too nice about it, but it’s a good idea to remain optimistic. I just don’t like what I’m hearing. It’s certainly not as simple as Bamford makes it out to be.

[@baconbuttties]

Thanks for clarifying the issues which are usually glossed over 👍

[@elta6241]

Sending hydrogen to homes in pipes is one of the stupidest ideas anyone has come up with. The central problems are manufacture, transportation and storage. Hydrogen is dangerous, and once you get it into a pressure vessel it goes from being one of the most energy dense fuels to one of the least.

[@AdamB8791]

They talked in the first video about why batteries just don’t work for agricultural vehicles. Hydrogen is a far better solution

[@Lanxe]

very interesting Harry. Thanks. I feel for myself, there is a suite of zero emission solutions which are complimentary and hydrogen is definitely a big part of it. Batteries, fuel-cells and hydrogen combustion engines all make sense in the right place for the right job. Very excited to see where this leads and well done JCB. I just hope my country (Australia) can also take the opportunity to develop this sort of infrastructure as well. Digging up energy to sell has a lot of sway here and electric cars are not enthusiastically received, partially due to the distances required if you're traveling but mainly because they aren't sold cheaply enough yet (it's coming). Hydrogen would be amazing for long haul and heavy work around here and we have buckets of sun to produce it.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Australia is one of the laziest countries in the world for infrastructure. We haven't even invested into nuclear power, despite having most of the world's uranium.

[@auscaliber1]

@@JohnFromAccounting yep and look at the mess they made of the NBN

[@Officialnrb]

There’s some Australian mining bloke who’s really pushing Hydrogen ICE too

[@tonysangwine-gould4733]

Well done waving the flag for what is happening up at JCB, I had a visit to the factory in 2021 and saw that Lord Bamford's hydrogen team were the future for powering commercial machines in the very near future. Hats off to all of them. Excellent video.

[@HypocrisyLaidBare]

Lord Bamford is the Boss, as an HGV driver I've always said that Plant, Agri and haulage cannot run on electricity, there wight to energy is too great, especially in haulage where the less cargo your transport the greater the cost of business. So having larger heavier battery packs to power for longer distances and carrying even greater weight than the typical car would (a car does not carry three times its own weight whereas a truck does) meaning that charging could not be done in 9 hours while the driver sleeps. Electrical trucks are not an answer. Lord Bamford and his team have made the gold standard with their new AB-H²O engine Musk and others are way behind the curve on this. Congratulations to JCB, a Great British Pioneering Brand leading the world again. I doff my hat to Lord Bamford and the boffins and staff at JCB Uttoxeter. Oh, last word to Harry, Love the show. Thanks for the great interview and film. I am incredibly happy to see the wonderful opportunities JCB is giving to hydrogen and proving its abilities to match diesel. Only thing is £1/1Kg won't be that way for long as diesel disappears H²O will be taxed with VAT and fuel duty like hydrocarbon fuels are now making it just as costly as diesel and petrol are currently, the Government won't miss a tax screw. Besides why would they want to lose taxes having forced a change in how the planet is powered? They have lied to us for decades telling us hydrocarbons were running out and we would not see the end of the last century that didn't come to pass so they changed the lie for the environment was going to sink below the waves and sea levels rose, that did not happen either so then it was global warming but it didn't get warmer it got colder so now it just anything environmental or weather related anywhere in the world and called climate crisis. The truth is there is no crisis, there is no climate change and there is no shortage of hydrocarbons, what there is, is a few scientists with little other career opportunities outside climate science that NEED the income stream to stay in work, no crisis no science and no job. So, they make up stories as wild and outlandish as they can, then as time passes these do not happen and they are then faced with losing funding, so they dream up a new catastrophe to keep them busy for another decade. The issue is that the climate activists are of two kinds of people, young and unknowing of the length of time these false prophecies have been shared and not come true, or they are the older but unaware, ill-informed, or simply gullible in society. But I must admit that if a H²O engine can do the exact same work to the same standard as a diesel engine or petrol for that matter, then I'm happy to have it, as it obviously is better for the environment but this would mean that lawn mowers, cement mixers in back gardens mixing cement for the new DIY patio and the petrol chainsaws etc. will still be able to run on these fossil fuels (not really fossils). BTW Harry, when are you and Jezza (Clarkson) going to get together to confront the Government about farming and the stupid 200+ funding project options with 60+ pages of forms to fill out for each one? It seems to me the Government is paying farmers to "not farm" but become "wilderness rangers" rather than farmers making food for the nation. The farming world needs some heavy weights of celebrity status in farming such as yourself, Jezza and Roger Daltry to confront the government and bring these issues to the public attention, food shortages are going to hit us far quicker than any environmental disaster ever will, and the farmer cull is also environmentally orientated behind the scenes even if it isn't written on the front cover. Sorry I went on a bit there...lol I welcome any comments

[@steffydog]

Absolutely fascinating to see this Part 2. Thank you Harry. Fingers crossed for JCB, need to get these out into the field. Good luck, wish you all the best, go UK 😂🙏👏✊

[@albertdesalvo7273]

Regarding lithium used in electric cars; much of it comes from Spodumene, a raw material from Australia. It's shipped to China, where it is cooked in furnaces using a lot of Australian gas until it is powder. It is then boiled in Sulphuric Acid in a process known as acid leaching. The reason it's done in China is that their environmental laws allow it. The resultant lithium is then blended with rare earth materials which are produced in much the same way. Aluminum for chassis components is known in the industry as "solid electricity" due to the amount of power needed to produce it, including electrolysis using giant carbon anodes. If that is the future, then questions must be asked...

[@Greyhoundsforever]

Very informative video, thanks Harry. Wouldn't it be marvellous to see some joined up thinking by the Government on this issue, and get the UK lead the world with this sort of technology. Huge respect to Lord Bamford for showing the way forward beyond electric. And I loved his comment that current electric cars are just prototypes - yes indeed, a product brought to a market that cannot properly support it.

[@MrDarcy-OlMan]

One of the most important videos of the last 20 years! Those of us who have been aware of environmental problems since the 70’s in my case, as a child, have known about hydrogen combustion engines. At last! Question: could a hydrogen combustion engine fit into a motorcycle? Would it be like for like power/torque for a similar size as a petrol engine?

[@MrDarcy-OlMan]

PS. Just watched to the end and the comments about the British government ignoring this technology, sadly, doesn’t surprise me.

[@stuartsmith5308]

Looking forward to more updates from Lord Bamford on Harry's garage, for many more years to come.

[@benpenagonzales6014]

Brilliant. Thanks Harry for pressing on with this and with the farm too. India is the lightbulb moment. A fast growing economy of over 1 billion people. I knew about the US and the inflation reduction act. Texas is pressing on. Battery EV means twice the weight and twice the energy to get down the road.

[@tbrdoescinema]

It absolutely doesn’t. That’s false.

[@benpenagonzales6014]

@@tbrdoescinema yes the physics calculations are more complicated but the relationship of weight gravity and friction are true. More weight = more energy

[@tbrdoescinema]

@@benpenagonzales6014 thank you for clarifying

[@ryoukokonpaku1575]

@@benpenagonzales6014 Scaling up with H2 is also simpler as you simply need more tanks or a bigger one. Batteries on the other hand needs a complete set of cells which is more complicated hence why they increase in weight linearly the more you add capacity since you cannot separate the generation aspect of batteries from the energy supply aspect unlike H2 fuel cells or H2ICEs where the generator is the fuel cell or the ICE and the fuel is an H2 tank.

[@michaelappleyard6300]

Great stuff by JCB, as always, and by yourself in making this video. As someone once involved in designing backhoe-loaders (but not with JCB), I am curious to know how many operating hours worth of hydrogen can be stored on board, given that space is very much at a premium with these types of machine and that the gas cylinders are pretty bulky. Also, how is the machine going to be refuelled on site when it needs hydrogen at 700 bar pressure (10,000 psi)? This amount of compression is required in order to keep the on-board storage volume acceptably small. Obviously, you cannot top up the fuel by hand from a tin can any more, like with diesel. Do you bring refilled gas cylinders to the site in a van and then swap them over or does a special refuelling truck have to visit the site every day and dispense the hydrogen at 700 bar directly to the machine in a similar manner as a static hydrogen filling station would? It is worth noting that, per mechanical kilowatt-hour of work (i.e. energy) delivered to the wheels and hydraulic rams, a hydrogen-fuelled piston engine will require 5 to 6 times more electricity for the production of the hydrogen (via electrolysis) as an equivalent battery-powered system would need for charging. By the way, using a fuel-cell system would reduce the electricity cost penalty, compared to the battery system, to around 2.5 - 3 times but this is still a lot. Obviously, if we can arrive at very low-cost renewable sources of electricity in due course, this becomes less important. However, such a Utopia may be many decades away in the future.

[@XenonG]

Last time I checked on this, for a vehicle at under 2 metric tons (most 4-5 seater 4 door sedans) to do 300 miles range it will need around 5 kg of hydrogen. And at 200 litres volume, it will reach 10000 psi. For the 300 miles range, that is for fuel cell electric based which is 3 times more efficient than combustion based currently with best effort prototypes and it'll go down from there for combustion based. Then there is the invisible flames of hydrogen (just look at smaller rockets burning hydrogen) and how fast even cryogenic liquid hydrogen leaks out everywhere, it's not like hydrogen wasn't explored as an alternative to your usual dinosaur juice. There are reasons why the recommended material for a hydrogen gas tank is carbon fibre but then if that blows, you get carbon fibre splinters as shrapnel. The next one up is carbon nanotubes, good luck mass producing that within these few decades.

[@scotttimbrook4440]

Here in lies the real challenge. I've seen public transport utilize hydrogen on a reasonably large scale. But I think there could be a avenue for on site hydrogen delivery of sort. Or even on site storage tanks that can be swapped out or filled.

[@dovakhiinmcnish7732]

Very interesting video as always. I just wish you had asked them to see their hydrogen storage tanks. Their weight and volume make them very tricky to install on existing vehicles. The energy density of hydrogen is great when you consider the mass (MJ/kg), but terrible when you consider the volume (MJ/L) even at 700 bars. If I remember correctly, you need 7 liters of H2 at 700 bars to store the same amount of energy you get from a liter of gasoline. I'd be really interested to see how they mounted the tanks onto the vehicles and hear about their expected range. Many thanks for all your videos ! :D

[@EVinstructor]

Had the same thought. 700 bar pressurised hydrogen on a construction site, what could possibly go wrong. The Toyota Mirai tanks are very sophisticated engineering and there are 3 of them taking up a large amount of the car to get 300 miles range. As an ICE engine is a lot less efficient than a fuel cell it would be interesting to know the size of tanks JCB is using and how long they will fuel the vehicle for.

[@dovakhiinmcnish7732]

@@EVinstructor The efficiency gap does not seem to be that big from what I've seen at work. The efficiency of the FC (the complete system, not just the stack) tends to decrease at high loads apparently, and that's where the HICE is at its best. So if you want peak efficiency for high power applications, you need to "oversize" your fuel cell, making it much more expansive and probably bigger. People I've talked with at work are very disappointed by their FC gensets for now due to a quick loss of efficiency among other things. And a few attempts at mass producing FCs have hit massive hurdles. Yet, the Mirai seems to work reasonably well. In the real world, the efficiency gap is expected to be much lower, and because engines are so much easier to run (less filters, less purity issues...) in demanding environments (dust, temperature, humidity...), they become a very tempting solution for applications as those shown in this video. Now, we need actual engineering figures from working prototypes to see how close the HICE can get to the widely announced 40% efficiency (for direct injection engines) in real world conditions. I'm really curious to see how these two technologies will evolve in the next decade as they seem to both be (almost) in their infancy.

[@EVinstructor]

@@dovakhiinmcnish7732 When cold hard business comes into it it will be costs that drive the market. Fuel cells are probably too fragile to deal with a construction site and hydrogen ICE is still a very complex vehicle. Storing and transporting hydrogen is difficult and expensive. Battery density is increasing. in 2016 the Nissan Leaf had a 24kW battery which was under the entire floor area. Now there are motorbikes with 20kW batteries and the Leaf runs a 62kW battery in the same pack. 60 to 100kW batteries are becoming normal in EVs. As battery density increases they will become more viable in construction equipment. Batteries are simple and maintenance free, an electric motor has 1 moving part and is maintenance free. It's easier and cheaper to get a container full of charged batteries and a rapid charger to a remote site than transporting hydrogen. We'll see what the market makes of it all. But while Lord Bamford's knowledge of the EV market and vehicles seems to come from reading the Daily Mail and JCBs competitors are working on electric plant I think, sadly, this great British company might be another of the victims of the transition to electric.

[@aesma2522]

@@dovakhiinmcnish7732 The Mirai is an hybrid car, it has a small battery, so I would expect that when you put your feet down the battery helps a bit.

[@dovakhiinmcnish7732]

@@aesma2522 as far as I know, every FCEV has got a buffer battery. The e-motor is not fed directly by the fuel cell. There might be exceptions I do not know though.

[@badgerpa9]

My takeaway is Lord Bamford is not a figure head, he is very intelligent and completely knows what is going on. Business people are smarter than the politicians. Stay safe and healthy Mr. Harry

[@georgeusmanov7012]

This video is awesome! I am not an engineer and the information was helpful, understandable, and I especially liked to larger implications of hydrogen in society. Would be great to see a video on hydrogen production facilities.

[@ColinHarvey78]

Fascinating video - excellent journalism - many thanks Harry! The point about the lackadaisical approach of the UK government is well made too. Just a couple of points - How do we sort the infrastructure for creation, distribution and storage of hydrogen? I saw something about new techniques to create hydrogen which are much more efficient but hydrogen is a difficult material to distribute and store because so many containers are porous to hydrogen - in a similar vein how is the hydrogen stored in the vehicle? What’s is range like? What’s its safety like? I guess in a crash and a rupture of the storage, the hydrogen just floats up into the atmosphere but is there any immediate fire/explosion risk? But it seems like a very viable solution. I’ve always thought it was from learning about it in my teens and it’s great to see the magnificent strides JCB have been making; I hope it’s a huge success for them and leads the way in green energy for vehicles in the future. Well Done!!

[@Neojhun]

What’s its safety like? Two Dead and more injured from H2 Fueling Station at Gangneum in South Korea. How do we sort distribution and storage of hydrogen? Not possible, there is no viable method to store and distribute H2 at large scale enough supply commercial vehicles. These are delusional fantasy to use H2 fuel on vehicles.

[@josoap8781]

We’re talking industrial quality kit to handle it. The safety issues are serious, but engineers can solve it. The weak point is the filling, in that whatever connectors are used must be completely idiot proof and made out of extremely high grade materials. Self-service filling may not be advisable but having a guy on the forecourt to connect and disconnect really isn’t such a big deal. Hydrogen tanks have to be exceptionally strong to handle the pressure, but good engineering and very strict rules over installation and servicing would be essential. Again, it’s no big deal.

[@reinmansmith]

Congratulations Harry for once again highlighting the blinkered approach of our Government and politicians generally. I agree 100% with your conclusions and can only hope that you or someone will be able to bring this to the attention of those in power!

[@ninja12lawbreaker]

The oil lobby are preventing the govt. pushing hydrogen

[@anonanon7497]

It wont be brought to their attention unless the lobbyists want it, which they don't. Too much money is tied up in other schemes that they'll want returns on first.

[@marshgatelaneposse]

What a truly great video thanks for asking all the right questions

[@duncanhowe9567]

A fascinating video - thank you Harry and JCB for pulling this together. It is so refreshing to hear people talking in a balanced manner about Hydrogen and acknowledging that battery EVs aren't the one size fits all solution that the UK ("led" by our government) seems to believe them to be.

[@EngineerLewis]

Lots of great engineering and sense spoken and demonstrated here. Come on UK plc!

[@pt99810]

Congratulations Harry. Exceptional video review of this topic. Extremely succinct technical outline of the development of JCB's hydrogen engines. Great to see serous product development utilising convincing 'green' technology. Lord Bamford's description of EV's as prototypes in large numbers sounds spot-on to me. It would be interesting to see review of the safety issues around the storage and transportation in passenger vehicles of hydrogen, given its highly volatile and flammable nature.

[@jamesdecross1035]

Well, what a truly privileged and gifted man Lord Bamford is. He understands his market. And, he seems to have looked at the problem 'from the outside' and considered all the options thoroughly. I'm fully convinced. That conversations in the cab of the JCB-powered Mercedes lorry was really quite telling - with so many great points. Listening to an engine running is such an important part of diagnosing any issues BEFORE they become a problem. If you drive, you do it all the time, without thinking. The weight of batteries cannot help efficiency, and imagine the increased impact in a collision, especially if all goods vehicles carried that extra weight too. Also, the hours of operation for these commercial engines does seem like an overlooked issue. A target market that can make a difference. Lord Bamford says the Government could do better, yet rather than complain, he has created a solution for just about every commercial company using his vehicles - and all they have to do is to replenish their machinery at the end of its service life, and he'll be ready with his offering. He couldn't make it easier. Current technology improved. No need to reinvent the wheel. It's encouraging.

[@LeicesterMike]

Just so many issues that were not covered in the video, still have to do endurance testing, hydrogen is incredibly corrosive, current price of hydrogen 28 euros not 3, so making running costs almost 10 times as much. As hydrogen is far less dense by volume, they will require refuelling far more often. To give you an idea of the issue you require 18 times as many fuel tankers to provides as much fuel as a diesel tanker. To produce 1kg of hydrogen requires a minimum of 50kWh of electricity so a battery electric equivalent could do 5 to 6 times as much work using the same amount of energy.

[@maxtorque2277]

@@LeicesterMike Not to mention that whilst they suggested they had the same brake specific efficiency as the diesel engine at the best operating point (note no mention of the overal efficinecy of their H2 engine vs diesel across all operating points....) but theyfailed to mention the significant energy consumption imposed in filling up the hydrogen tanks. H2 today is really only practically stored at extreme pressures to negate it's very low volumetric energy density (it has a high specific energy (energy per unit mass) but being very low density, a very poor volumtric energy density (energy per unit volume). Compressing H2 to around 400 (up to 700 bar is required for some applications like H2 passenger cars) takes a significant amount of energy. Once you include that energy then suddenly your overall brake specific numbers start to look at lot less comparible to deisel where you can just poor it out of a bucket....

[@LeicesterMike]

@@maxtorque2277 thanks Max, I suspect we could mention many other issues as well. It is hard to understand why such a large business has made such a bad call that could have a significant impact on it's future viability.

[@maxtorque2277]

@@LeicesterMike I'm not sure it's that hard to work out why JCB have done this. They have done this because it is there "only way" within their old fashioned and out of date worldview. They had spent a lot of money on a new engine factory before they realised that engines were yesterdays news. This lack of understanding meant they failed to properly look at the long term picture and as a result have cobbled togther this un-workable stop gap solution that fits with their current rigid company architecture. Green hydrogen is the panacea to energy issues that is peddled out time after time and allows industries to look like they are doing something without actually doing anything. There is (effectively) no green hydrogen and is unlikely to be any for years yet to come. These H2 engines (Bamford says first order is for gensets, but doesn't say how many were ordered) will almost certainly run either on a very very small (and expensive) scale as a greenwash with locally produced green hydrogen, or more likely, just be fuelled with grey hydrogen from fossil fuels. It's ok though, they will paint bits of the project a nice green colour and everyone will be fooled...... ;-)

[@LeicesterMike]

@@maxtorque2277 Yes a simple analogy I often use is, it's like putting diesel into a steam engine, it might work but really you should really rework the whole design. Battery electric is the future I just hope that this sideshow doesn't kill off the company.

[@alankingsley-dobson4676]

Hydrogen engine projects have been in development since the 1960’s. The engines work, great. Problem is actually getting Hydrogen, you lose 70% energy loss vs EV through electrolysis. Or using CH4 the process is as bad as using fossil fuel. Also energy density, you need 18 times as much transport capacity for Hydrogen as petrol. Shell recently scrapped all their Hydrogen pumps due to be being unviable. The whole car industry is pushing ahead with EV’s, not fuel cells. As they know the chances of a realistic Hydrogen infrastructure are next to zero. Forever destined just to be R+D projects. Here’s my cool Hydrogen engine that I can’t get fuel for.

[@kalmmonke5037]

maybe in commcercial aircraft

[@PaulaXism]

@@kalmmonke5037 they will be burning kerosene well into the next century.. it's the most energy dense fuel we have.

[@546268]

Absolutely fascinating. I really hope in the future this will be a solution for the classic car driver who thinks converting to EV is ripping out the soul of the car and borders on criminality!

[@_Pezza_]

Interesting and thought provoking video. JCB had made over 750,000 diesel engines in 2021 and the swap to hydrogen combustion is most aligned with this technology. As a skeptic and not an expert, I just can't help but question the problems of delivering hydrogen to anything other than HGVs, trains, ships, but happy to be proven wrong. We need solutions! 25 years ago my Saturday job for a large retailer involved driving a ride on pallette truck. This was battery powered and had a docking station with interchangeable batteries, so no down time and one battery swap a day (it worked fine). Surely the technology has moved on and something similar could be applied to commercial vehicles where necessary. Building contractors regularly charge electric tools, so it's not that much of an inconvenience. I'm also aware Nio has battery swapping stations in China for cars, so not totally unheard-of.

[@brushlessmotoring]

Norway too, NIO has a station there. I don't understand why JCB isn't going the battery swap route - at least as a double bet - back hydrogen and batteries, you win either way.

[@_Pezza_]

Inside knowledge? Maybe the big oil giants are pushing (greenwashed) hydrogen in a life post diesel. Who knows?

[@allwheeldrive]

Not so fast! In reality, we will have incredible choices very soon, including MUCH more evolved battery-powered vehicles that are fed by hydrogen motors. Battery tech and charging infra is well on its way to providing very cost-effective, very high-power-densities with far easier ways to charge, and there are several options to lithium that already look viable. And most definitely it'll be applied to great effect in transport trucks. Won't be long; patience, grasshopper. This wonderful tech really needs to be in heavy machines and vehicles as soon as possible! Thanks for a great video, Harry.

[@chiefsilverback]

Is that true though? There was a report recently about a battery company that has managed to create a battery that can be charged in a few minutes, but it requires a 900A supply. Have you ever used 400A cables, I have they are beasts and each phase has its own separate cable. Up those to 900A and try to bundle them into a single 'charging cord' and only Jeff Capes is going to be able to plug his car in, assuming he's got a 900A 3phase supply to his house! Carbon neutral petrol or hydrogen engines in hybrid vehicles is what I would like to see because I live in New England where an ice storm can knock out the power for days at a time...

[@kng128]

@@chiefsilverback Ford and Hyundai EVs have a feature "vehicle to load" - V2L - where you can use the EVs battery for external powering of devices such as charging another EV. GM is already working on making it possible for the battery in your car to power your house when the power goes out.

[@johnsm100]

Great video Harry, though the issues with hydrogen remain:30% efficiency (using 3kwh of electricity to extract hydrogen from water results in 1kwh equivalent of hydrogen), storage needs high pressure, expensive systems to safely store the hydrogen and of course virtually no hydrogen infrastructure. However I do think that the solution has value for high power scenarios such as JCB outline so worth exploring, but advances in battery storage will probably mean that hydrogen will only be used in niche areas. Great to see a British company at the forefront though.

[@546268]

Did you not watch the video? All the way through it talks about creating hydrogen through green means, such as solar. EVs also require massive infrastructure changes. It’s all very well talking about the environmental cost of producing hydrogen, which if done right is negligible, what about the environmental cost of battery production, which is considerable, and then the environmental cost to charge them if you aren’t accessing green energy?

[@BigBadLoneWolf]

For plant with diesel engines, they usually use a fuel bowser on temp sites, or static tanks on a permanent site. the same could be done with Hydrogen. not just diggers, but compressors, mowers etc could be powered by Hydrogen

[@cme2cau]

At the moment, around 1% of global hydrogen production in green. Australia's biggest green hydrogen plant will open next year in the Pilbara, powered by solar and batteries. It will output 640 tonnes per year. The infrastructure requirement is huge. That is not to say we shouldn't do it. Meanwhile Caterpillar is delivering autonomous electric huge mining trucks.

[@546268]

@@cme2cau and how much battery production is green? Answer-none, and not much is being done to address that. The demand for hydrogen isn’t there yet but the infrastructure will develop along with the green technology. Electric vehicles have been used in mining for years because of the dangers of using spark ignited fuel and fumes. It’s irrelevant to this conversation.

[@cme2cau]

@@546268 LiFePo4? no rare earths, and if you are giving hydrogen the free kick that green hydrogen infrastructure will develop, then you can hardly argue if batteries don't have it yet. I'm not talking about underground mining, Caterpillar are making and selling huge 327 tonne payload electric trucks for open cut mining. As a competitor to JCB with their smaller plant, Caterpillar are certainly relevant to the discussion.

[@davidocallaghan7791]

One area that was not mentioned was the fact that hydrogen has to be stored at 350Bar in very exspensive high presure tanks. The production of hydrogen will come down to a round $1.00 . But this wont be the price paid at the pump this will be around $12 per KG, this is due to all the diffeculties in storing and transporting hydrogen. Pluss the need for it to be high presure

[@Mr57blackbeauty]

Just wait to see the price of electricity soar. If they go that way, all new infrastructure to provide high output home charging, loss of fuel tax revenue, goodbye to cheap rate overnight power, 350bar storage is no big deal these days and the life span of the tanks will outstrip the up keep of sub stations,

[@stephenbennett3330]

Thanks Harry for highlighting a real alternative and in particular Lord Bamford for pioneering the way. I especially liked the comments on small nuclear, of caourse they are powereing subs and aircraft carriers why not scale them up into a network? Small thinking by those in power about the future of power.

[@nlockett696]

Seeing Lord Bamford and Harry trundling about in that truck having a chat made me proud to be British. Being able to drive a 7.5t is a core life skill.

[@jonathansavage8221]

Great to see this technology in action harry. Thanks for this video (and the companion one on your farm channel). I learnt a lot and found it fascinating. As a keen Lexus fan I was particularly pleased to hear Lord Bamford praise the merits of hybrid technologies. I've enjoyed the self-charging hybrid engines on the LS600, RX450h and now RX450+ for years.

[@jonathancullen1337]

Self charging lol.... I take it your Lexus doesn't need any petrol or diesel to move as it charges itself 😂😂😂. Toyota's marketing team have done a job on you alright

[@Brinslade]

Surprising, as in Australia the mining industry is moving towards electric for their heavy vehicles

[@ianstobie]

Makes sense for underground mining. A niche where no emissions and no explosive gases justify putting up with other disadvantages such as battery weight taking away from payload, and the need to periodically recharge (or swap batteries). A lithium battery fire underground would be a hazard, but I expect mining engineers have systematically thought through all the pros and cons.

[@Merakis100]

This niche makes sense for hydrogen - what they need to make is a solution for creating and storing enough hydrogen to run these machines from solar at the farm where the machines will be put to use. This kind of hydrogen production tech could cost less than one of the machines it runs :)

[@geoffaries]

Harry thank you so much for continuing to support the research into hydrogen and an even bigger thank you to Lord Bamford, Ryan and the engineers at JCB. I would love to see you interview the conservative and labour MP's who hold the energy portfolios.

[@glenburridge]

Been great to watch this story develop since your first visit to JCB in 2021. Fascinating to have the personal insights of Lord Bamford as well. Speaking as a geologist and someone heavily involved, one source of hydrogen to watch out for is the potential for natural hydrogen. Still early days, but we are following a revision of the science and there are well funded companies now exploring for it in US, Australia, France, Spain.

[@ollianddelphine]

Just saw something about Caterpiller developing hydrogen and multifuel engines as well. Looks like companies who need to work away from the grid are leading the industry.

[@PeakTorque]

As others have said, doesn't really paint a fair picture of the energy cycle... Although watching the tank filling guy speak to Harry like a 5yr old school boy was quite funny!

[@brettsta72]

I’m all in EV but can’t help thinking hydrogen might just be the solution that is adopted longer term. Especially if big oil gets their way.

[@brushlessmotoring]

@@brettsta72 it will be fossil fuel hydrogen though - it will work for weak governments who don't ask too many questions about where the hydrogen came from.

[@ianstobie]

​@@brushlessmotoring Of course, on a level playing field BEV owners would ask where their electricity comes from. But usually they don't. In the UK the answer is likely to be natural gas from local fields and imported liquefied natural gas. For both hydrogen reforming and the electricity for battery charging.

[@brushlessmotoring]

@@ianstobie about half of UK electricity is gas, renewables, wind in particular is often more than 50%, and has pretty much shut down coal in the UK. One possibility with EVs is dynamic charging based on grid mix - it hasn't happened in the EV itself yet, there are some smart chargers that will choose low CO2 mixes to charge from, and EV owners do think about where the electricity comes from, which is why they often add solar. Hydrogen needs 3 times the (input) electricity a BEV does to go the same distance, 54kWh into the electrolyzer per 100km driven in a fuel cell car vs. 18kWh into the battery for a BEV - 300% more for a fuel cell, even worse for hydrogen combustion. Electrolysers cannot be spun up and down to match renewable generation in the same way EV charging can be stopped and started. Battery EVs are a really good match for renewables from an efficiency and intermittency perspective - hydrogen is not - very wasteful, and not great at absorbing curtailed renewables. gridwatch.co.uk/

[@ianstobie]

@@brushlessmotoring Good link. Wind is higher than I thought, especially at night when a lot of EVs would be recharging.

[@MichaelVella1]

As someone that has been researching this topic closely, I truly believe solar/wind/hydro power needs to be further talked about as these will allow the creation of green hydrogen worldwide. Most people see this as too complex and have stuck with the belief that electric vehicles is the way forward but it really isn't for many different reasons. Also, having a good hydrogen infrastructure will allow for the creation of synthetic fuels which will in turn allow for us enthusiasts to continue enjoying v8s/v10s/v12s further on in the future. Thanks for sharing this!

[@carsonj1]

Enthusiasts having V8s is not a good reason to go hydrogen, if you have been researching hydrogen you would know all the problems with it. Terrible efficiency across the whole cycle of use. The need to build massive new infrastructure. Burning hydrogen in this engine is extremely inefficient compared to a fuel cell which lowers efficiency even more. Hydrogen is hard to work with, it leaks easily. Tanks are expensive. Toyota and Hyundai tried to make hydrogen work but just burned billions of $. The Tesla Semi will kill this, and cars are already EV. Hydrogen may work in cargo ships, maybe.

[@scottrippon5039]

Thank God! Some sense at last. I hope that Volvo Penta, CAT, MAN, Cummins etc are also paying attention..... Ships and pleasure craft.... Makes sense to me. Please don't stop banging on about this Harry. :)

[@howardlake6178]

I saw a brilliant video recently, of an extremely peeved Taycan owner. Long journeys for EVs do not work. Another, towing a caravan. Halved it’s range. In real terms, 130 miles. I say, as did the man, hybrids are the only way forward. That is the way it will stay for 5-10 years, because there will not be massive leaps in either battery tech, or charging infrastructure

[@chrisyates-wf6wt]

Having cut my teeth as an undergraduate in the Ford Tractor Plant, involved in engine machining and assembly, this is a remarkable development and confirms my feeling that it will be Industry, not Governments, who will drive the change. Well done JCB!!

[@Lanxe]

Technically, zero emission standards are set by governments (EU standard etc) which is driving the push for these technologies. Whether or not the local government gets on board is different but internationally market authorities are having an impact, and the EU probably more than most.

[@MrManBuzz]

​@@Lanxe Good luck trying to explain that to them. If industry was left to it's own devices... Well you only need to look at the past, or China so see what they're like.

[@MrManBuzz]

You really need to think a little bit harder about what governments are doing to drive change....

[@kirmy1]

I would really love to see this take over from the awful idea of an all EV future. JCB are making brilliant progress, hats off to them.

[@allwheeldrive]

I don't get the push-back on BEVs. It is still relatively early, and there have been massive improvements in the technology already: higher density, much quicker charging, non-flammable materials, non-rare-earth lithium replacements. If you've never driven an EV - and it sounds as if you haven't - I'd highly suggest you do. Quiet, quick, very much diddle-free. Running costs, even at high electricity prices from a traditional grid, are demonstrably better than ICE rigs. Nothing awful about it.

[@ethelred2648]

@@allwheeldrive totally agree. This jcb stuff is mainly because they can carry on making mechanically complex irrelevant engines on the same production lines. If they were to pivot to BEV they would lose all that investment. Son this is to save them. These things are as mechanically complex and wasteful as traditional engines. The fact they generate noise and waste heat is testament to that. Electric motors generate massive torque from zero revs so would be much better for JCBs. This is just an exercise in how to use all the tooling that you haven’t paid off to make something that can be called green. Tragic.

[@neilrobson3064]

He’s given up lecturing us about the benefits of Brexit then? Perhaps just stick to bankrolling Boris Johnson instead……

[@karmanline2005]

Great video. Shame about the ev hate in the comments. We are still years away from green H2 at scale but it will come, once there is sufficient wind and solar. The energy vector from pv to h2 to motion will always be less efficient than pv to battery but H2 is a good vector for HGV and plant equipment. Not needed for passenger cars in temperate zones.

[@stephensalt6787]

I work in supermarket distribution, our 69 plate trucks have passed 800,000kms our latest trucks delivered in December are now showing over 50,000kms. There is no time to charge an electric truck in our schedule without increasing the fleet by a third and that cost would have to be passed on to the customer, hydrogen would be the perfect fit.

[@timc924]

Great update on a sleeping giant of a solution: The obsession with electric and its variations doesn't address the gamut of transport challenges we face, nor the potential risk of a single supply chain for the batteries. Surely covid taught us that we need diversity in supply chains and sourcing and that we need to innovate and create locally, but with a global focus on how we can share the results and trade equitably. The rate of development JCB have advanced in just 20 months is so encouraging and surely must be taken seriously on many fronts for we do as was stated, need multiple solutions and electric only is not the only way forward.

[@rogerfroud300]

There is no 'single supply chain' for batteries. There are different chemistries and suppliers. They don't all use the same materials, and more chemistries are coming to the market each year. Energy density is the only issue with batteries as a solution.

[@timc924]

@@rogerfroud300 Good of you to clarify. My comment however as a layperson watching on, is that Hydrogen offers a broader solution and a greater level of independence to produce the material from more locally available resources, which has to be good. Batteries have huge limitations and the charging infrastructure, particularly in Australia, is woeful as is the model choice. I'm not looking to dispute an expert, rather just lending a voice to support what appears to be a better option.

[@richharper8159]

Love or hate electric power, we already make it. Just build the infrastructure. Efficiencies are improving every few months. Producing green hydrogen is a waste of green electricity.

[@jafuk]

If you watch Engineering Explained regards to hydrogen engine vs hydrogen via fuel cell to an electric motor JCB are on a fool's errand.

[@gordonmcgregor6431]

Fuel cells need batteries and electric motors along with the associated gubbins. This is a good alternative as it is repurposing existing tech, the production line at that factory will require minimal investment to switch to the new engine the rest of the vehicle hardly changes except for the fuel storage so much cheaper and quicker to put into production. Mass production of and delivery of hydrogen is going to be the real challenge and that applies to fuel cells as well

[@100SteveB]

But I have to wonder if an hydrogen to electric fuel cell would be able to keep up with the demand placed on it by an electric excavator? They may be ideal for cars, but maybe not for something like this?

[@ianstobie]

Excellent channel, but he was primarily considering passenger cars, not earth moving equipment expected to work a long shift at heavy load. Main problems he identified for cars was the size of the hydrogen tanks and NOx emissions from combustion. It occurs to me that AdBlue, or some similar exhaust system additive, which commercial diesel operators are already accustomed to using, could deal with the NOx emissions from hydrogen engines as it does with diesel, if JCB's solution doesn't prove effective. Within the hot exhaust system AdBlue breaks down into ammonia, which then reacts with the bad nitrogen compounds turning them into innocuous ones. Engineering Explained's video is still well worth watching, along with Sabine Hossenfelder's equally negative take on hydrogen as a vehicle fuel from a physicist's point of view.

[@nicholasbrunjes4850]

A big thing that is sticking in my mind is the similarity between these engines and our traditional pertol & diesel engines. The maintenance and repair market is enormous in every country, and every country is quickly going to face a shortage of these skills for EV vehicles. Hydrogen offers a fantastic alternative with hopefully minimal retraining compared to the EV equivalent..

[@hermanmunster3358]

Electric motors are very low maintenance, and quite simple in theory. So not a great deal to learn. What concerns me more, is that Lithium and Cobalt are a finite resource, and expensive to produce, which in turn, makes the batteries expensive. Then what do we do with all the spent batteries? Can they be recycled?? Can it be done easily, and safely??? Which is why I think Hydrogen is the way forward, as long as it can be stored safely in the vehicle. It seems that hydrogen is one resource that there is plenty of, so should see us easily into the next 100 years at least, maybe longer.

[@smurf9857]

Great point. I’m also concerned about the long term repair costs of EVs (and I’ve got one). Some BMW i3s are being written off because of major electrical faults requiring many thousands to repair.

[@hermanmunster3358]

@@smurf9857 Which is why most people are waiting, until the teething problems are ironed out, and EV's become affordable. And another point, will an EV with a spent battery, be a good choice as a used car? Could work out almost as expensive as a new car, if you have to buy a new battery pack. Then what happens to the spent battery, can they be recycled, or will they end up as landfill?

[@hermanmunster3358]

@just_here Glad to hear that, I did wonder what would happen with all the spent batteries. Maybe when Grapheme batteries are fully developed, then EV's will become a lot more viable for most people, as they can be fully charged in minutes, as opposed to hours apparently. So no long waits at the charging station when you're pushed for time.

[@DiscoFang]

@just_here You can only recycle what has already been made. So it being cheaper is somewhat irrelevant to the sustainability of making enough, more, "new".

[@enuclear]

Absolutely fascinating. Thanks Harry. Keep these coming!

[@jamesmckenzie4572]

What a breath if fresh air. Well done Harry and JCB. The best presentation on the subject I have seen.

[@awild10]

Really interesting video even though most viewers come to you for cars not excavators. Making cars with electric drivetrains is reasonably easy but the more and more you hear about the problems with range and charging infrastructure and the fact more of the electricity going to power them still comes from burning fossil fuels, the more it's becoming clear that the battery electric route to clean transport is a bit of a blind alley. I can see what's being developed at JCB being suitable for road cars if only it gets the backing.

[@shiraz1736]

Hydrogen is more of a dead end than batteries.

[@awild10]

@@shiraz1736 how so? Batteries are working in cars but the infrastructure isn't and JCB are right to point out that they're not suitable for applications which are required to be operational for longer periods and needing to produce a lot of power. Hence there's never going to be battery powered heavy machinery such as trucks diggers and ships. But we do need to move them away from oil so if hydrogen powered combustion engines are a suitable solution it makes sense that they would be able to be used in cars.

[@shiraz1736]

@@awild10 You need to look into hydrogen, transportation and supply. It has much more complex issues than batteries.

[@brushlessmotoring]

@@awild10 I'm not going to dispute battery electrics do not face challenges, but they are very solvable compared to hydrogen, vehicular hydrogen doesn't solve any problems batteries have not already solved, hydrogen needs 3 to 4 times the input energy, so the arguments against the materials needed for batteries are invalidated by the materials needed for 3 to 4 times as much renewable generation to make clean hydrogen. In reality, hydrogen is made from fossil fuels for 95% - while there are some small green hydrogen plants, you now have to transport that hydrogen, it would have been far more effective to put that electricity onto the grid to transport it to batteries and heat pumps with minimal losses. The Hydrogen Science Coalition have a good balanced take on where green hydrogen is applicable, existing chemical processes currently served with fossil fuels, and where it isn't - just about everywhere else. e.g. heating: h2sciencecoalition.com/blog/hydrogen-for-heating-a-comparison-with-heat-pumps-part-1/ Another good comparison for cars, 5 times more expensive for hydrogen: www.linkedin.com/pulse/mirai-fcev-vs-model-3-bev-paul-martin (I think it's 10x more now, as hydrogen has hit $25/kg in CA)

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@ALCLCF Hydrogen is renewable since it returns to water, and it's the most abundant resource on the planet. The UK could be entirely self sufficient with its transport solutions by investing in hydrogren. Self sufficiency is impossible with batteries.

[@hughbryson1372]

stock declined, hydrogen more dangerous than conventional fuel sources. Never panned out in the 80's the odd hydrogen bus in some major cities but nothing really stuck, yet here we are again, Mr Ballad trying to push this non viable fuel source to no end. Its not like its new technology, its hard on metal its hard to make its hard to contain. Limited use at best. I just dont get it.

[@hugocass8381]

Very prescient comment from Lord Bamford regarding today's battery EVs being in essence 'prototypes'. Chris Harris said something similar, comparing battery EVs to '1990s laptops'. Where are today's battery EVs going to be when the next storage technology appears?

[@Neojhun]

Yes very much EVs are the 1990s luggable, but that doesn't mean we got rid of laptops. They just became more capable and more efficient in the same formfactor. I have a compact Chromebook and RTX3070 company "mobile workstation". When the next storage technology appears today's battery will be degraded and ancient with 250,000 miles on the clock. This stuff takes time and you can't just wait do nothing for unicorn dreams.

[@wcads623]

Exactly current EVs will be worthless and obsolete in a few years time as technology make rapid progress and their batteries need replacing.

[@mw...]

Fascinating update on JCB and the global prospects in general.

[@MM-xr6tz]

Fantastic insight Harry. Lord Bamford is 100% correct and a great listen.

[@ColinHarvey78]

Just a thought (as I watch this) - I wonder if there’s a way of extracting the heat of the exhaust (after the turbocharger) for more work - something like a condenser boiler, maybe for heating or generating some electricity for vehicle systems, etc?

[@kidkidder]

I guess overtime there will be more and more improvements and efficiency. It's amazing how far JCB have come with this engine already. As Lord Bamford explains, the real stumbling block at the moment is the governments unwillingness to accept it as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

[@970357ers]

Kettle

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

The thought is sound. However, converting heat to mechanical work is not an easy task, and any machine doing it is, per definition not very effective (Carnot), and adds great complexity.

[@brucebello2049]

Or making a brew like in a Challenger 2, also refuelling in the field looks very interesting

[@steveh485]

​@@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8Xsterling engine. Need a cooling source...or maybe just a whole new thought on heat energy

[@JamesSmith-qs4hx]

We have a name for when we were last #NetZero. We called it the Stone Age.

[@martinfoster288]

I disagree about hydrogen in heavy plant. It will be batteries no matter what the senile lord says. Good luck all the same your going to need it !!

[@keithwhittaker9124]

Yet another superb presentation by Harry. His plaintive plea at the end about lack of governmental interest just highlights the utter dearth of understanding by the self-serving numpties, of all parties, that “run” this country.

[@rubenangelvarisco4233]

From Natural Gas to the absurd of hidrogen. Fantastic!

[@markrushton1516]

Is Boris not about? He has bed and board with the Bamfords.

[@gamos6698]

Looking forward to Daylesford Organic’s range of soggy biscuits