Photo: http://thelogicalindian.com/
A team of engineering students from the RVS School of Engineering and Technology in India built a modified motorcycle that runs on hydrogen, rather than on petrol. While hydrogen-powered vehicles are anything but new, their 148 km ride using just one liter of fuel is, at least for the non-pro segment, a major victory.
Now, 148 km done with one liter of fuel accounts for a neat 0.67 l/100 km fuel economy. Across the pond, this figure stands for a whopping 351 mpg mileage, which should definitely raise some eyebrows, right?
The fact that the future of transportation is green is no longer a secret, but the source of energy is a debate that still misses a final answer. While electric mobility is making solid progress especially in terms of wider availability, it looks like the advocates of hydrogen are not idling, either.
The team comprised four students of the Automobile Engineering Department of the mentioned college, R. Balaji, Gowthem Raj, Jerry George and Kalid Ibrahim, led by their assistant professor and project manager, Mr. P. Lakshmanan.
Together, they modified a small-displacement motorcycle to run on hydrogen, the cheapest type of fuel that can be found in India, albeit not considered yet a viable commercial undertaking. One liter of hydrogen fuel usable in their motorcycle is around $0.45 (€0.39), approximately half the price of a liter of gasoline, making H2 a very appealing solution.
According to the team, their hydrogen solution can be adapted to work with petrol, diesel, and even LPG engines. They say that burning hydrogen instead of fossil fuel enhances the average life of the engine and reduces engine noise and vibration, with no damage done to the power plant.
No news emerged as to whether the team is looking forward to patenting their product and starting to produce such bikes at a wider scale. When it comes to hydrogen, its availability, together with safety-related issues remain the major throwbacks, but with people constantly searching for ways to make things better, we might just live to see the day when hydrogen-powered vehicles derived from projects like this become reality.
Follow these links to read more about hydrogen vs. electricity and what comes with such technologies.
The fact that the future of transportation is green is no longer a secret, but the source of energy is a debate that still misses a final answer. While electric mobility is making solid progress especially in terms of wider availability, it looks like the advocates of hydrogen are not idling, either.
The team comprised four students of the Automobile Engineering Department of the mentioned college, R. Balaji, Gowthem Raj, Jerry George and Kalid Ibrahim, led by their assistant professor and project manager, Mr. P. Lakshmanan.
Together, they modified a small-displacement motorcycle to run on hydrogen, the cheapest type of fuel that can be found in India, albeit not considered yet a viable commercial undertaking. One liter of hydrogen fuel usable in their motorcycle is around $0.45 (€0.39), approximately half the price of a liter of gasoline, making H2 a very appealing solution.
According to the team, their hydrogen solution can be adapted to work with petrol, diesel, and even LPG engines. They say that burning hydrogen instead of fossil fuel enhances the average life of the engine and reduces engine noise and vibration, with no damage done to the power plant.
No news emerged as to whether the team is looking forward to patenting their product and starting to produce such bikes at a wider scale. When it comes to hydrogen, its availability, together with safety-related issues remain the major throwbacks, but with people constantly searching for ways to make things better, we might just live to see the day when hydrogen-powered vehicles derived from projects like this become reality.
Follow these links to read more about hydrogen vs. electricity and what comes with such technologies.
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