World's First Fuel-Cell Motorcycle

Alex writes "Rubber Magazine reports that the British company Intelligent Energy has unveiled today the first purpose-built, fuel-cell motorbike. The bike has a 6kW (8 hp) electric motor, top speed of 50 mph (80kph), a range of 100 miles (160km). The engine is completely silent, which might not go well with many motorcycle lovers. In addition it could also possibly pose an interesting safety issue, since a pedestrian or motorist would not hear it coming."

silence in cars too

[drmike0099]

The silence issue also exists for the electric cars. At low speeds or coasting they run pretty much silent and, since they're a lot larger, could pose as much of a threat. If you've ever run through LA and almost been hit by one popping out of a blind alley (cuz nobody stops at the end of alleys here) that you weren't able to hear while approaching, you know what I'm talking about...

(Lack of) Noise Problem

[cynic10508]

In addition it could also possibly pose an interesting safety issue, since a pedestrian or motorist would not hear it coming.

Easy. Put baseball cards between the spokes. Problem solved.

Silence

[Anonymous Coward]

Really, I think a whisper quiet vehicle is the ultimate definition of cool 'noise'. Which would you rather have, an Eclipse or some such thing that whines loudly (noise = wang size) or a Mustang whose engine noise wasn't even a whisper? It would be as if Death's own chariot were at your command...

SF ENVy?

[Doc Ruby]

In the future, we'll all carry 2KW generators to power our local environments. Mobile devices, climate control, transport. Who knows - when the dollar collapses and oil runs out, maybe our currency will be denominated in Kjoules, which we trade for drinking water. The "Core" transportable fuelcell that powers the ENV is a step in that direction - we're always "in our cars", which transform around us by our needed functions. But I don't get it with this ENV. How is its motor "6KW", while its power supply outputs only 1KW? Is it really all science fiction?

Re:Meh

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, the total efficiency is what you should look at. It's pretty cheap, in terms of material etc, to machine current technology.

Making fuel cells for motorcycles is pretty wasteful. The places we really need fuel cells are in large trucks. Electric motors have massive low end torque (much as diesel engines do) and they don't have to worry about fuel storage, because they're already carrying ~100 gallons of fuel anyway.

In addition, they have fairly constant fuel requirements on long hauls, perfect for a fixed-rate fuel cell system.

huh?

[MarcoAtWork]

although I mostly agree with the wind issue (I've experienced that a few times myself) I am not quite sure I understand the rest of your observations and I'd like to qualify the wind issue a bit more anyways.

The wind is a problem if you happen to sit fairly high up on a motorbike with a big side profile (aka most 'high performance' road bikes). Even if said bike weighed a lot you'd probably still be moved around quite a bit as you go fast. The wind is a lot less of an issue on choppers since you're sitting way lower and they have way smaller side profiles.

= has trouble hugging curves in mountain roads

huh? What does weight have to do with anything when talking about cornering? You don't see MotoGP riders strapping anvils to their bikes to corner better, do you?

= needs more acceleration to stay at speed despite drag.

this doesn't make any sense: AFAIK the drag is proportional to the bike's frontal area, not to its weight.

= while a heavier bike will absorb more momentum.

if you collide with a car and you're on a motorbike you're going to be thrown off it whether or not the motorbike weighs 200lb or 500lb: most/all cars outweigh you by an order of magnitude anyways, and let's not even talk about SUVs.

= these collisions are really terrible mismatches for a bike, especially one which can't jet out of the way at higher speeds

most of the bike-car collisions I've seen/heard about couldn't be avoided by being able to accelerate or go faster: if that was the case there would be no accidents involving high performance road bikes, right?

Personally I think this bike is perfect for European city commuting (since it's near silent and non-polluting odds are you'll be able to drive it in the city centres that are currently off-limits to mopeds and motorbikes) but won't really do much here in North America, although you might see the odd one around (like I've seen a S.M.A.R.T. car the other day, the likes of which you see way more often in Europe).

The 80kph speed limit is about perfect as well, as traffic usually moves around at 50-70kph in town: my old moped was capable of hitting 60-65kph (on a good day, with some tailwind) and having an extra 20kph would be way more than enough for those times where traffic is moving faster than usual.

Re:moto myths

[multiplexo]

Another Myth:

Having a loud bike will protect you because motorists will be able to hear you.

I hate to bum the high of all of the Harley riders out there but I've met quite a few guys who have been in serious motorcycle accidents (i.e., they ended up having a leg cut off) and quite a few of them had big, noisy cruiser style bikes. The Hurt report (yes, that's what it is called) didn't find any correlation between how much noise a motorcycle makes and its likelihood of being involved in an accident with another vehicle.

Jamie - former motorcylist, current amputee

Re:moto myths

[anagama]

Yeah! You speak the truth my friend. If I had mod points, you'd get them. I'm partial to older bikes, especially 80's standard Japanese bikes, and older BMWs. The bearded tatooed Harley thugs/wannabethugs and the tshirt/shorts/flipflops crotch-rocket-cool-dudes all look down on these, but I love them. Power aplenty, nice handling, and comfortable riding positions. I once took an early 80s Nighthawk 650 on a 1500 mile trip. It was a blast.

As an aside, I learned how to adjust my valves this weekend (1978 BMW R80/7), and after a spline lube this coming weekend, I'll know most of the basic maintenance for this machine. I'm a wannabe motorcycle geek right now - hope to be halfway competent in a couple years - but looking forward to some extended motorcycle camping this summer.

Re:Cool

[jc42]

I know a person who got a ticket for having a loud stereo, which pales in comparison to the sound of a Harley

Maybe this is the solution. Have a loud stereo system on the bike that's looping an MP3 of a Harley. Then they'll hear you coming, and you won't get ticketed.

Re:Cool

[Ohreally_factor]

I'll grant that it's possible to over-the-top wrt loud pipes -- but the biggest risk to a competant motorcyclist is cagers who don't know about their presence. Driving a silent vehicle sure seems to me like it would exaserbate that risk.

Unfortunately, that's just a risk we riders face when we get on the road. We deal with that risk by assuming no one can see us (other than traffic cops!), and anyone who thinks that loud pipes will alleviate that risk is either rationalizing or not terribly bright.

I don't see that many riders with loud pipes dressing completely in yellow, which they would do if making others aware of their presence was really the foremost consideration. There is no statistical proof that loud motorcycles increase rider safety, and any anecdotal evidence is easily overcome by anecdotal evidence that people are annoyed by motorcycle noise. It's not like we need to give someone in an automobile more excuse for their road rage. You might think I'm being paranoid, but I firmly believe that a healthy dose of paranoia makes for a healthier rider.

Re:Its the weight that concerns me.

[whitetrashrobot]

Generally what really determines how much a motorcycle is affected by crosswinds (or passing trucks) is aerodynamics not the mass of the vehicle. I have a sport bike which weights less than 500lbs and I've never had any problems.

Silence is golden.

[Domini]

I for one don't care much for people broadcasting the fact that they drive a motorcycle with a perpetuated engine fault (Harley).

I think they should perhaps have speakers embedded into their helmets to blast their own ears away.
-grin-

I think some form of speaker system can be installed which will simulate some form of engine noise (Star Wars vehicles come to mind...) to help with the safety issue. Besides, the noise of some motorcycles prevent the rider from hearing others around them.

I too drive a 3.0 litre Porsche 911 SC, and am painfully aware how bad it is for the environment (and my fuel budget). Fortunately event though my exhaust needs to be replaced (I almost sound as bad as a free-flow modified VW Beetle!) the car is totally silent within. (Pretty cool really)

I'll miss the roar I think, but then again I'm all for viable (quasi-)electric vehicles.