Nuclear fusion is inherently safe which nuclear fission is not. Availability of nuclear fuel is not unlimited. In the past it was believed that oil would last forever; we now know (emissions not considered) that it was nothing more than a fairy tale and a bad one at that. Abe Lincoln coined the following fitting phrase, "you can fool some of the people all the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time".

Ford has cooperated with VW in the past, so why not now?

@ Davemart Innolith claims a life expectancy for their cells =/> 50,000 cycles. Their pilot project on the Maryland grid excels above all other competitors.

Well, I'd think it depends were you intend to apply the lipstick; in the front or rear.

There are other innovations, based on solid electrolytes, preparing to launch to market that offer more energy density, less weight and lower cost. E. g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_glx79wJyE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAg_8iCLIIw

@ Peter_XX Not quite correct. The first law of thermodynamics, also known as the "Law of Conservation of Energy and Matter", states that neither energy or matter can be created nor destroyed; energy or matter can only be changed or transferred from one form to the other. In modern physics you don't even have to differentiate between energy and matter because i.a.w. Einstein's equation E=MxC² everything is energy. Of course it cannot be ignored that over time some of these emissions will react chemically with others and change their properties either for the better or the worse.

Not really surprising, is it? No matter where on the surface of this planet emissions occur and in which form, they are finally evenly distributed in the atmosphere and waters so that everyone gets his share due to him. Just a matter of time.

Have you been smoking POT? Ever hear of PTG (power to gas)? When renewables, e.g. in Europe, are producing over demand (and that is becoming increasingly the case during summertime), surplus energy is stored within possible limits or used to split hydrogen from water via electrolysis. This is far better than just wasting that surplus power. Sometimes the generated surplus power reaches such heights that the windmills and PVs are "switched off" and dirty coal and NPPs prevail. Audi is doing quite fair with PTG. That's far better than switching "OFF".

There is almost nothing that human activity is not responsible for that leaves a negative impact on the environment. If it were only millions pulling off such stunts, nature could cope with those results. With 8-billion plus performing in a detractive manner, nature has no other chance than to react the way it does. It is only a matter of a short time before the final bill is presented. War has no victors only losers. Anyone stupid enough to wage war against nature has lost even before the first battle has begun. The instructions for the destruction of this planet were included in the Bible, Genesis 9:7. New American Standard Bible: "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

There is almost nothing that mankind does that has a negative effect on the environment. If it were only millions pulling off such stunts, nature could cope with such behaviour. With 8-billion + behaving in a detractive manner, it is only a matter of a short time before the final bill is presented. War has never seen any victors; only losers. All involved can only lose, whereby some lose more than others. Anyone stupid enough to wage ware against nature has lost before the first battle has begun. Humanity itself is the biggest problem that it is confronted with. The instructions for the destruction of this planet have already been documented in the Bible Genesis 9:7. New American Standard Bible: "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Per annum is per annum and not per month. A fridge has a life expectancy of ca. 25 - 30 years. Do the math for that time period for cutting needless power; it's less the money more so power efficiency and as stated that is an example of countless more in the household and otherwise. Droughts are increasing worldwide, crops are diminishing, and water is being rationed. I'd like to see you starting to nourish yourself on those saved green-backs. I'll spend you the pepper and salt when the time has arrived. You must have spent a lot of time indulging in scientific and engineering subjects but spent to little time on philosophic matters.

@ HarveyD: I can only endorse your disagreement. We're not doing only very little to reduce energy consumption we're doing next to nothing to cut energy waste. E. g. new fridge combos use ca. 115 kWh per annum; old ones use double that amount (230 KWh). I've replaced ours. Not everyone is in a financial state to afford such replacements but there are plenty of people around who could and don't. These "scrooges" cling to their old junk relentlessly. The power utilities don't care about efficiency and common sense; all they care about is to sell power to profit at a maximum. The really intelligent portion of the population is interested in building NPPs and keep up the inefficiency and waste of all electric burdens on the grid.

@ TM: I'm fully with you and your diagnosis of the general situation. The rapid progress that has been made in recent years with the "Stellerator" fusion reactor fuels hope that success is lurking just around the corner. I'm sure that this reactor type will displace the "Tokomak" in the final run. Despite all the success in solar and wind power generation, far more emphasis must be placed on efficiency and waste-cut.

@ EP e.g. http://www.beachapedia.org/Radiation_From_Fukushima http://ourradioactiveocean.com/results.html I don't believe in taking unnecessary risks because they may have been minimized to avoid expected natural public reactions. A natural radioactive dose plus in all other foods (fish, oysters, crawfisch, etc. etc.) adds up to an unhealthy dose among all other contaminants that we are bestowed with unknowingly and unwillingly. Our math teacher in high school familiarized us with one of his favorite sayings: "Trust only those statistics that have been faked by yourself".

Independent of the environmental pollution that both, oil and nuclear, have caused, they are both limited resources. Presently, we are experiencing the results of oil with a temperature rise worldwide and all subsequent damages resulting from them. Oil resources have passed their peak and it will become increasingly expensive to access those remaining and dwindling oil reserves. Nuclear fuels present their biggest problems as experienced in Chernobyl and Fukushima. Where are those thousands of tons of nuclear waste to be safely stored for the next millenniums? How long will it take before nuclear resources begin to dwindle away like oil. Humanity has been GREAT in wasting resources and energy. it's high time that we get started to stop wasting both. As long as profits soar for big business and political corruption prevails, there will never be an end to this waste.

True Lies? Apart from that, maintenance on a diesel is more expensive and occurs more often than on an electric drive train. Emissions neutrality is claimed but not proven. I've driven ICEs for 60 years and EVs for shortly 3 years. I'll never, ever again call an ICE POV my own. For those remaining adamant to the ICE culture, I wish you the best of luck; I've struck mine.

This potential joint venture has already bin dissolved. Anyway, would anyone (perhaps Renault) in their right mind be prepared to merge with pest and cholera.

The seals you mention more than likely serve to prevent penetration of foreign particles that are likely to impair the proper function of the cell.

@sjc Im absolutely sure that the implemented ceramic band of that bi-polar cell has a triple function; solid electrolyte, separator for anode and cathode and carrier for both.

Samsung is a South Korean company and not Japanese. Apart from that, I haven't got the slightest clue that Samsung was involved in EMBATT activities.

The EMBATT consortium (Glatt Engineering, IAV, Fraunhofer Institute, IKTS, ISOCOLL Chemicals, KMS Technologies, Litarion and Thyssen-Krupp Engineering) is preparing to enter cell mass production in 2020. https://newatlas.com/battery-stacking-electric-cars/49324/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_glx79wJyE

I wouldn't place my bets on future batteries based on Li; cobalt is already on a descending arc. There are several battery chemistries in the pipeline based on sodium and sulphur which will emerge on the market in two to three years time. There is no constraint on the supply of these materials and they are also dirt cheap.

The data sounds impressive but, nevertheless, it's a typical ad spot appealing to the lower instincts of humanity / men.

I'll concede that for certain limited applications, hydrogen is justifiable. I see it limited perhaps to heavy duty equipment, long-haul trucking, trains, airplanes etc. but never for POVs. No matter how effective catalyzers may become and how much FCs may improve, the same is to be expected from batteries and H2 technology and overall efficiency will never even come close to batteries. It's high time to realize that we must stop wasting resources and energy because neither are infinite. To emphasize efficiency, I would not even accept an inductive charger at no cost to me. That is only supportive for overwhelming laziness. I can easily spend the time and effort to plug in.

@ EP For your personal information you may take note that I'm neither a green propagandist nor a leftist and least of all a rightist which you apparently seem to be. In your world there is no room for other opinions unless they are the same as yours. Like Henry Ford stated about his tin Lizzies: " Any color is all-right with me as long as it is black". Apart from that he was not as intolerant as you are. You would have made an even better schoolmaster than an engineer. One of your favorite hobbies seem to be to schoolmaster everyone with a different opinion than what you favor.