The cost isn’t what they are demonstrating here. It’s the feasibility of the tech. Electric cars had to pass the feasibility test before anyone was going to pay the high new tech prices. I think Tesla’s were 100k to begin with? The range was about the same or less than a gas car but I can’t imagine it being successful if it only had a 150mile range.
Once people think the tech is good enough they will be hoping the price comes down so everyone can use it not just rich people
This isn’t just a feasibility demonstrator, it’s the first unit of a four unit order that’s supposed to enter service this year. The testing in Colorado is for federal certification to use the train in revenue service on railroads in the U.S. Setting a Guinness World Record was just a side effort for publicity and to show the full capabilities of the system.
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For those who are curious, they did this at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo acorrding to this article.
Save the hydrogen for better suited use-cases - trains are easily electrified and should be running on catenaries.
For regional train lines/freight lines full electrification isn’t feasible due to the length of track, diesels still rule the train world because of this
I honestly think this is just cheaping out, and I bet electrification will pay off on a long enough horizon.
Fwiw, I think basically all of Sweden where I live is electrified - 80% of the rails, with the 20% principally being a freight line in the far north used for the purposes of transporting ore from the mines.
It works great for European countries sure, but when it costs roughly $5 million per kilometre to electrify track and there are for example 800kms between Melbourne and Sydney, the cost just gets astronomical, not to mention the headaches of getting 1000V DC across that distance.
A self-sustaining vehicle is really important for big countries with long inter-country rail lines that have no support infrastructure for hundreds of kilometres
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