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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."
In addition it could also possibly pose an interesting safety issue, since a pedestrian or motorist would not hear it coming.
We bicyclists have the same problem, but if one obeys the rules of the road, there should be no problem. The problem bicyclists (and many motorcyclists) have is with people in their automobiles who fail to properly look out and are too busy talking on the damned cell phone while driving their gas sucking SUVs. (Disclaimer: I own a Toyota 4runner, but bicycle back and forth to work every day, and run many of my errands on the bicycle) My recent experience with a near miss can be read here.
The engine is completely silent, which might not go well with many motorcycle lovers.
I have to admit that when I did ride motorcycles, there was a certain magic about either the banshee wail of a sport bike as you wound it up while screaming up a canyon road or even the relaxed "POTATO POTATO POTATO" of the Harleys. However that said, this is going to be the future of transportation and I would most certainly embrace fuel cell technology that reduces the worlds outrageous consumption of oil. Plus, this ENV bike is a pretty sweet looking ride.
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... is a sidecar with a tactical nuke in it.
Myths:
- Not all motorcycles are made by Harley.
- Not all motorcycles are cruisers or sportbikes.
- Not all motorcyclists like loud pipes.
-ted, motorcycling geekSomehow, I think that the top speed of 50 mph might not be that popular either.
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...
leave it to /. readers to complain about something being too fuel efficient...
The engine is completely silent, which might not go well with many motorcycle lovers. This sure would make a drive-by easy though. I hate it when they run...
They are using the bike as an example of what a CORE power system is, think if it as a big battery, you can take the battery out of your motorcycle and put it into your jet ski.
But the battery is reusable, and can be used else where. Camping, Emergency Generators, vehicals, kids toys, etc.
And as for the quiteness of them, new problems are only new challenges. Most people cant hear whats outside their car now, with the radio on, speaker phone, and kids crying in the back.
Funny how quiet is a drawback, when I'm thinking quiet traffic is worth it. You dont jay-walk for a reason, now you dont hear the car hitting you, maybe its darwinism in realtime.
I have always wanted a quiter bike. I do not like the loud 'like at me' rumble (which may exceed legal limits in many places) that some riders seem to like.
Now my 250cc Rebel (my firts bike) puts out 15 HP. So, an 8 HP bike might be a bit weeny for highway cruising, but this sounds like a great city bike.
In terms of noise again, bicycles and even Segways make no (or very little) noise. Its not the pedestrian who has an issue. Its the driver.
If its licensed like a standard Gas powered bike, then the driver knows the rules on riding and should not be endangering anyone.
I applaud this and all the other cool alternative fuel bikes. My little bike gets 70 mpg, and my biggest get 35 mpg. Not bad compared to most cars people actually drive, but they still add to the pollutiuon level none the less.
Even on my bike 500lbs I get tossed around alot on windy days... I wouldn't want to be on this bike if an 18 wheeler passed me on the highway.
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
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.
-- the cake is a lie
Pardon my French, but fuck 'em (read till the end for why, I have a little explaining to do first).
In my state (Massachusetts) a bunch of do-gooders are working on legislation to ban "aftermarket" exhaust systems on cars (and cars only) which are "louder" than the OEM systems. This was originally intended to stop all the idiots with Hondas from putting practically-open mufflers on their 4-bangers. Which IS really annoying.
However, for people like me who own an older German car for which the exhaust system OEM costs about a bazillion dollars, pretty soon I won't be able to install a significantly cheaper exhaust system, simply because it is slightly louder than the original, and the original was dead quiet...or because I'd have to have it "tested" or the manufacturer would have to have it "certified".
Meanwhile, some guy who thinks he's really Bad Ass (TM) gets to run COMPLETE STRAIGHT PIPES off his damn Harley that are so loud they make your chest pound. Or some college student on a crotch rocket puts mufflers on his bike that are so loud he sounds like an screaming F1 car. Nevermind none of these idiots have catalytic converters, and the damn things are little better than lawnmowers; most of them are still using carbs (yes, I know some "sport bikes" are now EFI, whatever, that's not the point). They're emissions -nightmares-, and while I have to have my car strapped to a dyno every 2 years, he barely has to have his blinkers checked.
So, until that law applies to them (it does NOT) AND cops start holding motorcycles to EXISTING noise limits, don't you dare go telling me what I can/can't do with my car's exhaust...and certainly don't whine to me about how a fuel-cell bike makes no noise.
Thank you. Yes, I am done.
Please help metamoderate.
...who read the article and saw this: The CORE.. is a radically compact and efficient fuel cell, capable of powering anything from a motorboat to a small domestic property and thought, "Why would I want to drive a house around?"
In addition it could also possibly pose an interesting safety issue, since a pedestrian or motorist would not hear it coming.
Yes, but the bike will be a huge smash hit with NINJAS!
'My name is robert, and Ninjas are soooo sweet.'
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!