FCEV Motorcycle ?

[Larry93428]

Electric motorcycles are in the news. They are being depicted as cool, fast and quiet.
The way they come across is important to us; not simply with the typical FUD and fire concerns.
The BEV motorcycle will aid us in our competition with FCEV.
Is anybody excited about a fool cell electric motorcycle?

 

[swaltner]

Are there any under development right now?

The alarmist in me doesn't like the idea of a 5,000 psi fuel tank between my legs. I guess in the rare event that a 5,000 psi hydrogen tank ruptures, it doesn't matter if it's right between your legs or just nearby.

 

[stopcrazypp]

The alarmist in me doesn't like the idea of a 5,000 psi fuel tank between my legs. I guess in the rare event that a 5,000 psi hydrogen tank ruptures, it doesn't matter if it's right between your legs or just nearby.

It's not the rupture (which typically won't happen unless the pressure relief valve fails), but the venting. Hydrogen naturally travels upwards so you don't want to be sitting on top of a tank when it vents or is punctured (unless you want to be roasted). That's why the automakers tend to put the tank behind the passengers when possible.

 

[thelastdeadmouse]

Hydrogen tanks are so bulky it'd be hard to imagine a FHEV bike with useful range. Maybe something Goldwing sized would work, but it seems to me that all the reasons that its difficult to make hydrogen fuel cell cars is doubly so for motorcycles.

 

[qwk]

Fool cell motorcycles are about as smart of an idea as gasoline powered desktop computers.

 

[AndreN]

I had a vague memory of seeing a fuel-cell motorcycle in Popular Science a while back, so I did a quick Google search and came up with this:
Intelligent Energy ENV

Looks like they had it on sale for $6000 but I don't see any evidence that it's still for sale.