It’s a technique that’s labored: These bikes have been extra readily accepted by native governments. In 2022, Youon offered 2,000 of its hydrogen bikes to Lingang, a brand new high-tech district in Shanghai; in 2023, the corporate offered 500 hydrogen bikes to the Daxing district of Beijing. As we speak, its hydrogen bikes could be present in over six Chinese language cities.
Youon has since doubled down on its funding in hydrogen. The corporate has launched a product that lets customers generate hydrogen at residence with solar energy and water. It additionally labored with the native authorities of Jiangsu, the place its headquarters are, to publish a set of business requirements overlaying security necessities, hydrogen tanks, and extra. “Hydrogen power can also be a vital pathway to reaching carbon neutrality,” stated Solar Jisheng, the CEO of Youon, at an business convention in June.
The issue
Nonetheless, that’s about the place the benefit of hydrogen bikes ends.
David Fishman, a China-based senior supervisor of the Lantou Group, an power consultancy, says he struggles to see the benefit. “Possibly the protection angle is a related issue for somebody who doesn’t like carrying round lithium-ion batteries and storing them of their home,” he says. Aside from that, hydrogen bikes are much less energy-efficient than battery-powered bikes, and it prices extra to supply hydrogen within the first place.
The primary benefit of hydrogen as an power supply is that it has a lot increased power density, which means a hydrogen tank with the identical weight as a lithium battery would produce extra power and energy the automobiles to go farther. Nonetheless, that benefit solely kicks in for journeys over 800 kilometers, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford College.
Which means hydrogen is a extra economical selection for long-distance transportation like ships, planes, and vehicles. Bikes, nevertheless, are nearly on the precise reverse finish of the transportation spectrum. Few folks would bike for lengthy distances, not to mention those that are solely renting a public bike for a short while. For something shorter than 800 km, battery-powered automobiles are extra power environment friendly, says Jacobson. He estimates {that a} battery-powered bike consumes solely 40% of the power of a hydrogen-powered equal and in addition takes up much less area.
On high of that, the corporate’s hydrogen bikes have did not impress most of the early adopters.
VIA YOUONBIKESHARE.COM
Gu, a resident of Lingang who solely needs to make use of his final identify for this story, tells MIT Know-how Overview that he tried the bikes a number of occasions they usually by no means felt effort-saving to him. As a substitute, the bike, together with the hydrogen tank and fuel-cell-powered motors, felt heavy and onerous to maneuver. As a person, he has no thought whether or not the bike was operating as anticipated or if the issue he encountered was because of its operating out of hydrogen, though the corporate is meant to dam any bike with low hydrogen reserves from being unlocked.