Note that the majority of hydrogen trains currently under development are all multiple units, and don't have dedicated locomotives. In the UK at least, track access charges push things towards distributed traction in part because of the axle loadings of any dedicated locomotive (or battery car). You see this to varying degrees across countries where speed is relevant.
To take as an example: each British Class 802 motor car has a 1550 litre fuel tank. If we (slightly optimistically) assume the diesel engine is 50% efficient, and diesel fuel to have 10.8kWh/L energy density, then that's 8370kWh of energy produced. The Tesla 3 battery pack manages 160Wh/kg, so to carry 8370kWh the battery pack would be 52 tonnes. That's more than each car currently weighs in total. And a nine-car train has five such fuel tanks and engines.
Comments
Note that the majority of hydrogen trains currently under development are all multiple units, and don't have dedicated locomotives. In the UK at least, track access charges push things towards distributed traction in part because of the axle loadings of any dedicated locomotive (or battery car). You see this to varying degrees across countries where speed is relevant.
To take as an example: each British Class 802 motor car has a 1550 litre fuel tank. If we (slightly optimistically) assume the diesel engine is 50% efficient, and diesel fuel to have 10.8kWh/L energy density, then that's 8370kWh of energy produced. The Tesla 3 battery pack manages 160Wh/kg, so to carry 8370kWh the battery pack would be 52 tonnes. That's more than each car currently weighs in total. And a nine-car train has five such fuel tanks and engines.
Hydrogen powered multiple units seems like an operational pain in the butt. If you have to fuel each and every one of them on a regular basis.
Seems simpler to put a 120kwh battery on each one and use a common charging buss.