First production fuel cell electric bike

[hardym]

Interesting article below about a commercial fuel cell electric bike, available in 2016.

http://www.bike-eu.com/Home/General/2013/5/Launch-of-Worlds-1st-Hydrogen-Fuel-Cell-E-Bike-1269941W/


I'd love to test a prototype battery.
Mark.

 

[mlt34]

"Highly environmental friendly and highly economical are the main features of this new means of powered transport,"

Yes to the first, resounding no to the second. The price for an ebike such enormously expensive technology is conspicuously missing.

It's cool that the concept of the hydrogen fuel cell is being applied to a bike, but it just seems like technological showboating. Sure you could build a nuclear powered cessna, that doesn't mean it's a good idea (or economical).

 

[arkmundi]

[youtube]B_Whbb_hlPs[/youtube]
Looks like it has the potential to solve the problems of current battery tech in terms of range, reliability, cost, etc. Price tag is about $6,000. But then its just hydrogen refueling, rather than charge/discharge and new batteries when the cycle-life ends.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENV
http://www.intelligent-energy.com/
Its been around for awhile tinkering, but it looks like it may actually come to production in the next year or two.

 

[wedge]

Sounds retarded.

Let's make a bike that you have to buy fuel for, and I bet there will be limited sources of cartridge refills...captive market.

No mention of range...because it is shit. The energy density of hydrogen is poor with every storage method invented so far and it's not likely to miraculously improve in the next few decades.

Environmentally friendly hydrogen? Yes, if it is made by electrolysis using renewable energy. Unfortunately nearly all industrial hydrogen is stripped from natural gas, which is a fossil fuel of course. That's right, hydrogen is currently produced by the big oil companies.

Honda has spent billions (yes billions) on Hydrogen technology over the past decade and as yet they don't have one product close to coming to market.

Unfortunately the oil companies have done a great PR job on hydrogen as it is their long term play. The money spent on hydrogen PR/research would have been much better spent on charging infrastructure.

 

[Tommy L]

Sounds retarded.

Let's make a bike that you have to buy fuel for, and I bet there will be limited sources of cartridge refills...captive market.

No mention of range...because it is shit. The energy density of hydrogen is poor with every storage method invented so far and it's not likely to miraculously improve in the next few decades.

Environmentally friendly hydrogen? Yes, if it is made by electrolysis using renewable energy. Unfortunately nearly all industrial hydrogen is stripped from natural gas, which is a fossil fuel of course. That's right, hydrogen is currently produced by the big oil companies.

Honda has spent billions (yes billions) on Hydrogen technology over the past decade and as yet they don't have one product close to coming to market.

Unfortunately the oil companies have done a great PR job on hydrogen as it is their long term play. The money spent on hydrogen PR/research would have been much better spent on charging infrastructure.

Good to see that you can see past the SMOKE and Mirrors. Corporate always needs a way to Meter and charge you. How easy for them to turn water into
hydrogen and charge for it. It's not cheap to do it, but using solar it is. And you don't have to drill for it nor refine it. I've seen this video years back.
Nice to see it's non-polluting. Apparently its cheaper to store solar into Lithium period. Funny how lithium isn't cheap when purchasing cells
Again, corporate making you pay up front for energy that you will use over and over again. Soon they will make a Car Charge Port for your garage that will
have ROAD TAX figured in. Don't get caught opportunity charging anywhere, you'll be fined!

This is an awesome video.....enjoy!
Tommy L sends.....

[youtube]LuzBzfo7dzs[/youtube]

 

[wb9k]

Hydrogen from electrolysis would be great if we could electrolyze sea water....but (to my knowlege) we can't. Putting our energy demands on our already-strained freshwater supplies is a bad idea, IMO. I'm a little surprised they used H fuel cells here instead of a solid-oxide type that can run on propane or butane. The verbiage of the manufacturer is a bit misleading...it's not like fuel cells just plug in and go. There are warmup times involved. It takes several minutes for a fuel cell to get up to temperature and make electricity at rated power. This is the main reason you still have to have a HV batt in a fuel cell car. The fuel cell is really just a range extender in an EV. Surely this bike still plugs in to charge its battery. If it can only be charged via the fuel cell, then it really is stupid.

 

[Kingfish]

When I was On The Road in 2011 passing through California Pacheco country between Mendota and Hollister I met a solitary rancher on his tractor going the other way. It was a desolate stretch of road and the first person I'd seen since leaving I-5. He told me a little story how this dry desert valley had once been some of the richest farm land in all of California... until the water ran out. They pumped and pumped until they hit seawater. Done - no more farming. Everyone moved into ranching. This guy here on the tractor was raising pedigree mustangs.

Anyways, he told me of a rather convoluted way to get back into farming - and it begins by supporting Nuclear Power. He wants whomever to build a large nuclear power plant right here in the middle of the dry Pacheco valley. To get cooling water they'd have to dig down to where the seawater encroached and pump that up. Of course they could desalinate the water in the process and give that water having a second life for irrigation. The brines could be dried out and harvested for minerals.

I thought this was quite a radical idea for a rancher - but he assured me he was dyed-in-the-wool red-sweater wearing Republican. If such a plant were built then creating hydrogen through electrolysis would not be a problem.

I can tell you from my Navy days that it was very easy to create fresh water from seawater through double-flash evaporation: Raise the seawater to 180°F in a vessel having a fairly hard vacuum - and it will flash to steam. At that temp 99.99% of the critters will be killed. We do this step twice to remove the salt. Easy peasy. The alternate is reverse osmosis though I don't know which is more efficient.

So there's our unlimited source of fresh water, a means to create H2 & O2, provide power, feed faces, and create a little mineral trade on the side. Just don't have any answers on where to dispose the hot core.

OK - back under the rock for me. KF