When Matthias Hupper piloted in an exhibition turn in Le Mans the futuristic Kawasaki H2 Hyse of hydrogen, more than one already wondered how he planned to face the Japanese brand, some of the technical challenges that are associated with this ambitious project. Especially those that are related to such important aspects in a series motorcycle such as Autonomy, safety, storage or the final weight.
Kawasaki H2 Hyse of Hydrogen: There is still a long way to go
Recall that Kawasaki has been working on the development of which he expects his hydrogen fed series for years. The H2 Hyse is the last episode in this race towards the use of this energy, although there are still many ends to tie to be able to offer, to the public, a motorcycle not only efficient in terms of performance.
We must also solve problems associated with storage and safety when making use of a chemical element such as hydrogen. On this topic, an interesting article has prepared the companions of Cycle World, where they have given, with data in the hand, on the pros and cons offered a motorcycle such as the H2 Hyse to get to get to commercialize.
To start, a truly simple appearance and that seems to have been overlooked so far. Hydrogen is a colorless and inolor gas so, in case of escape, it would be practically impossible to detect. In addition, in contact with the air it is potentially explosive, so that entails in safety. That is why the deposits responsible for their storage should be totally armored so that this circumstance does not occur, for example, in case of accident.
On the other hand, we have the difficulty of storage. About this explain that: “While hydrogen has a greater energy density than gasoline in relation to its mass, its energy density is considerably less in relation to its volume. In mass, hydrogen contains the a whopping of 120 megajulios/kilogram, almost triple the 46.7 megajulios/kilogram of gasoline, but in volume – even compressed to 700 pressure bars – the hydrogen MEGAJULES/LITER, while gasoline reaches 32 megajultos/liter. “
For us to get an idea, six times more space are needed to store the amount of energy in the form of hydrogen than gasoline. So, equal conditions in terms of capacity of a deposit, for example, if with a 15 -liter tank of gasoline we could travel about 300 kilometers, with the hydrogen that would only reach a distance of about 50 kilometers on a motorcycle like the H2 Hyse.
