Honda Motor Co. announced on August 24, 2004 that it has developed fuel-cell (FC) powered scooter and moped models that can take the place of gasoline-powered motorbikes.

Based on a 125cc scooter, the FC scooter is equipped with a lighter, smaller FC stack redesigned from the stack used in FC automobiles. The mechanical system is compactly positioned, meaning that the scooter is comparable in size to a conventional scooter of the same class. Honda aims to develop an even lighter, smaller FC system and to design an FC scooter capable of running the same distance per fuel fill-up as a gasoline-powered bike.

Honda has also developed a hybrid scooter that efficiently uses both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. This design will allow the scooter to achieve 1.6 times the fuel economy of a conventional scooter and produce 37% less carbon dioxide by reducing exhaust gases. Honda has also developed an electric moped powered by a nickel-hydrogen battery. Powerful enough to climb hills, this electric moped offers performance comparable to that of a gasoline-powered moped.

Honda has been developing next-generation motorcycles as a way of promoting fossil fuel alternatives, exhaust gas reduction, and global warming deceleration. These latest models bring this effort one step closer to practical commercialization.

http://world.honda.com/news/2004/2040824_01.html
http://world.honda.com/news/2004/2040824_02.html
http://world.honda.com/news/2004/2040824_03.html

Posted: 2005/01/03 11:26:17 AM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Global warming , Manufacturing industry , Technology , Transportation