Iwatani Corp unveiled the concept for a bike running on a Li-ion battery charged by using a hydrogen fuel cell at the FC Expo. The bike can run for approximately 45km if the 26V, 4Ah battery is completely charged and the hydrogen cartridge is full. The Li-ion battery is charged using a Proton-Exchange Fuel Cell (PEFC) system which can produce around 60W of power. This PEFC system consists of a Hydrogen cartridge, a coupler for connecting the cartridge an adjusting valve to regulate the pressure of hydrogen coming from the cartridge, a PEFC and a blower for sending air to the PEFC. The hydrogen cartridge with an internal capacity of 0.25l of can store around 7g of hydrogen.
These bikes are currently being tested at the Kansai International Airport, where a device called “bomb stocker” is installed to refill the hydrogen cartridges. Although it is a very promising and ‘green’ concept, Iwatani feels that the system is too underpowered to be commercialized as of now.
[techon]