This is an undeniable result of the far-reaching stupidity of Donald Trump.

"Why not use a carbon fiber rod....." A hollow carbon rod of course.

@ mahonj: Why not use a carbon fiber rod instead of a belt? Such a rod could consist of 30 to 50 mtr. segments and have guide-bearings every 25 mtrs. or so. Might be more expensive but certainly more durable.

More than likely, it was Lindner's attitude (from the FDP) opposing the EU-Commission's decision to discontinue production of ICEs in the EU after 2035; that eased Ford's decision to establish a future BEV production site in Valencia, Spain. That leaves Saarlouis, Germany holding the short end of the stick. A great political achievement. Congrats Mr. Lindner to your mental prowess.

@ SJC: So what?! You're ignoring all the measures and subsequent financial impacts necessary to produce H2 and keeping it liquid at a steadily increasing environmental temperature rise. Completely absurd!

Plasma ignition, laser ignition, fart ignition ......all these innovations? are for the birds. Fact is, that anyone with a bit of common sense has already provided a coffin for the ICE. RIP

@ Davemart: "Presumably you imagined that you posted that once, not twice." Just to reassure you, I posted my comment only once and not twice. If you 'd waste a glance at the date and time you'd realize that they're exactly the same. Someone else and not me made a boo-boo. I may be getting on in age but am all else than senile. Apart from my mother tongue, I'm fluent in two other languages and still know when I'm thinking, speaking and / or writing in which language I'm presently navigating. How about you?

@ Davemart: You sound like Trump advising the broad public to drink some liquid anti-septic as a remedy against a corona infection.

@ Davemart: You sound like Trump advising the broad public to drink some liquid anti-septic as a remedy against a corona infection.

@ Davemart: "I fancy Nuscale's SMR solution, - here is a video from 'Engineering with Rosie'" For all proponents of SMRs, the following link is a "must to read". https://www.powermag.com/researchers-say-smrs-will-produce-more-waste-than-large-nuclear-reactors-nuscale-disputes-claim/

Combining TEGs with solar panels has a two-way effect. During hot summer days, the temperature rise on the solar panels has a negative impact on the efficiency of the panels. Cooling the panels with a TEG maintains the efficiency or even increases the panel efficiency. Additionally, the TEG production of e-power may be low but every little bit adds up. Besides that, the TEGs respond to temperature difference and remain productive at night at a low level when the sun is not shining. https://solvoltaics.com/thermoelectric-generators-vs-solar-panels/

Next year, a year from now, VW will start to equip their first test vehicles with SSBs from Quantumscape. With the introduction of these batteries, the feared incendiary risks will disappear.

"How are electric bus fires like the one recently in Paris working for you?" Just as appealing as the two fossil gas hogs that recently burned down in Mannheim, Germany.

@ EP: I know that your favorites are SMRs. Apart from the two that have been built from Russians and employed in two ice-breakers, there are, to my knowledge, none in operation. Besides that, they are "dirty" as most everything that is produced from Russians. NIF has incorporated the same principle as used in HB11 but instead of using Hydrogen they have resorted to Deuterium and Tritium. Fusion is easier to achieve with these elements than with Hydrogen. NIF expects to commercialize their variant in two to three years. The disadvantage of using heavy or super heavy Hydrogen is the resulting radioactive waste. However this waste has a rather short life. I would prefer such a solution any time to fission products The best of all would be success of HB11 fusion.

@ Davemart: Take a thorough look at this and you might change your opinion on nuclear fission. https://newatlas.com/energy/hb11-laser-fusion-demonstration/

The first oil crisis in 1973 prompted me to mentally tinker with a serial hybrid configuration. I was unable to raise the slightest interest in such a venture other than being scoffed at; since then opinions have changed. I've been driving BEVs for several years now and no one had to convince me of the advantages. Other anxieties frequently raised never bothered me in the least. I'm absolutely convinced that in ten years from now the populace will question how stupid their ancestors were to drive around in gasoline guzzling stinkers.

Some individuals seem to suffer from a short memory. For my part, I can still recall very plainly the distressing incidents of Chernobyl, Fukushima and Three Mile Island. Besides these incidents, there is the everlasting problem of secure storage of radioactive wastes for thousands of years, Maybe someone is so kind to offer his backyard for storage purposes? I think that the Germans had sufficient foresight and were not dumb at all on the contrary to the stupid Russians that just recently barely managed to scrape by a catastrophe in Chernobyl.

@ sd: I could not agree more with your comment.

From an electric engineering point of view, I wouldn't object to a board voltage of 48 ( multiple of 12V) volts; but that could have been implemented decades ago. At a higher voltage with the same power rating the current is lower and offers more advantages than drawbacks. Buses and many trucks also military vehicles have been designed for 24 V which is better than 12V any day.

"....and boast 97% design efficiency. " There are several international suppliers of Si-carbide converters that boast an efficiency = / > 99.2 %; so 97% is really nothing to boast about.

That is a question you should raise to BASF; they might even give you an answer.

The source of all acute problems associated with environmental pollution is the overpopulation of our planet but is being explicitly ignored.

I'd refrain from arguing if $100/ton or $500/ton would be justifiable. However, I know for sure that the higher the penalty, the faster a transition would be to a tolerable and acceptable situation.

"Let's hope this building momentum is not killed off after 2022 elections." Whose fault will it be if Trump manages to get elected again? Benedict Arnold was hung because - allegedly - he spied for the Brits. If that wasn't treason on Trumps part pertaining to Putin, then perhaps they should decorate that slob with the medal of honor? I'd, personally have him strung and hung; and this not tomorrow but yesterday.

@ Jakob Sperling: The "overwhelming bodies of facts" that you are referring to are nothing more than deceased and evil smelling corpses caused by big oil.