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[[{“value”:”Hydrogen as an alternative for gasoline in cars has been an abject failure. So why are Kawasaki and other Japanese OEMs pushing the technology on motorcycles?
Kawasaki recently presented an H2 Ninja prototype that was powered by hydrogen, inciting many clicks and spawning dozens of articles asking if hydrogen, instead of batteries, would power the motorcycles of the future. Kawasaki calls this just another step on the road to a “…hydrogen-based society”.
Hydrogen is the most abundant material in the universe, and when burned in liquid form produces a lot of heat (ideal for combustion motors) and produces only water vapour as a waste product. It sounds ideal; however there are serious problems. Producing hydrogen involves vast amounts of electricity or burning natural gas, resulting in extremely high costs and negating most or all of the emission reductions. Compressing and storing it in liquid form requires cooling it to temperatures as low as -40º C and at pressures as high as 70 mP, or 700 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure.
It is not widely reported by the automotive media, but Japan set a goal to transform their economy by switching from fossil-fuel to hydrogen as the primary energy source back in 2017. The Basic Hydrogen Strategy is a national plan designed to keep Japanese industry competitive by developing a complete domestic hydrogen energy sector as a direct replacement for fossil fuels. As a world leader in combustion engine technology this makes perfect sense as it extends and expands advantages the country built over decades of investment in this area.
The strategy provides generous government support to build the full supply chain, from hydrogen generation via green technologies such as wind turbines, to hyper-efficient transportation systems for super-cooled liquid hydrogen, to raw material manufacturing such as so-called green steel that uses hydrogen to replace natural gas.
The embarrassing failures of Toyota’s Mirai and the Honda Insight hydrogen EVs are due to a near total lack of hydrogen fuelling stations, and seemed to signal the end of hydrogen as a possible alternative energy source in automotive. But in Japan there has been no retreat, with over $100b in national investments planned over the next 15 years.
Japanese culture is very long-term in its thinking. The recent Kawasaki H2 demonstration is part of a corporate vision established all the way back in 2010. Together with its four domestic rivals (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki), the Japanese motorcycle industry is attempting to pivot to a zero emission motorcycle future that builds on their 75 years of internal combustion engineering mastery. In their vision, it means clean motorcycling without compromise: same high power and long range as gasoline, but with dramatically reduced emissions.
Japan has a strong record of technical and infrastructural achievement, and the country has the resources and discipline to execute ambitious plans. Whether of not they can provide hydrogen in abundance and convenience for riders in areas outside of Japan remains a big question.
The post Is Hydrogen Going to Power the Motorcycles of the Future? appeared first on Adventure Rider.”}]]
