Tesla Inc (TSLA)

[Twilson]

This came out yesterday also.....Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) revealed a surprise on Wednesday: The automaker has created a hydrogen fuel cell system to power zero-emission electric heavy trucks. Toyota engineers have installed a prototype of the system in a heavily modified Kenworth 18-wheeler that will soon begin operating in a test in California.


Toyota's announcement is a big warning for Tesla: The Silicon Valley upstart isn't going to be the only player in that game. And unlike Tesla, Toyota actually has a working electric truck to show off right now.

Why Toyota's truck is important -- and different

Tesla's electric truck will almost certainly be powered by a battery pack, similar to those used in its cars. But unless Tesla has come up with a dramatic breakthrough, its battery-powered heavy truck is likely to have a couple of drawbacks:
•The number of battery cells required to move an 80,000-pound vehicle several hundred miles is very large, meaning that the battery pack in Tesla's truck is nearly certain to be bulky, heavy, and expensive;
•That big battery pack will take a long time to recharge, taking the truck out of service for several hours a day.

In theory at least, fuel cells get around those disadvantages. A fuel cell is a device that chemically converts the energy in hydrogen gas to electricity. The only "exhaust" is water vapor, and that can be collected and reused (it's just clean water). A fuel cell system scaled for a tractor-trailer isn't huge or heavy -- and it can be "recharged" in minutes, as long as there's a hydrogen refueling station nearby.