2024-01-13 18:03:00
To find an alternative to the 100% electric motorcycle, researchers at MIT have created a motorcycle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. A solution that avoids very long recharge times.
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If the end of sales of new thermal vehicles announced for 2035 does not concern two wheels, thermal motorcycles might also be impacted by the gradual disappearance of gas stations. Currently, the only alternative is the 100% electric motorcycle. However, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States are working on a hydrogen motorcycle. This is not completely new, since the French manufacturer H2 Motronics presented its own hydrogen motorcycle prototype last year, the H2-K.
Unlike another Kawasaki prototype, the MIT motorcycle does not use a hydrogen combustion engine, but rather a fuel cell to power an electric motor. Motorcycle enthusiasts will therefore not find the sensations of a thermal engine, but this avoids being limited by the autonomy and recharging time of a 100% electric motorcycle. This is potentially a good ecological alternative, provided of course that the hydrogen comes from a renewable source.
Presentation of the hydrogen motorcycle prototype. In English, enable automatic translation of subtitles. © MIT
A project under free license
The motorcycle in question is a Ducati 900 Supersport from 1999, from which the thermal engine has been removed. It has been modified to fit the electric motor, the hydrogen tank, a hydrogen fuel cell produced by the company Doosan Fuel Cell, and the transmission.
The motorcycle is only at the prototype stage for the moment, the plans of which are published under a free license. The future of this type of motorcycle will depend a lot on the development of a network of hydrogen service stations. France currently has fifty. The next step for researchers will be to see if the hydrogen motorcycle can beat a thermal motorcycle.
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