It’s a method 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. Right this moment, its hydrogen bikes might 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 masking security necessities, hydrogen tanks, and extra. “Hydrogen power can be an important pathway to attaining carbon neutrality,” mentioned Solar Jisheng, the CEO of Youon, at an business convention in June.
The issue
Nevertheless, 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. “Perhaps 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 principle benefit of hydrogen as an power supply is that it has a lot greater power density, which means a hydrogen tank with the identical weight as a lithium battery would produce extra power and energy the autos to go farther. Nevertheless, 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 alternative for long-distance transportation like ships, planes, and vans. Bikes, nevertheless, are virtually 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 autos 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 likewise takes up much less house.
On prime of that, the corporate’s hydrogen bikes have didn’t impress lots 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 Evaluation that he tried the bikes a number of instances and so they by no means felt effort-saving to him. As an alternative, the bike, together with the hydrogen tank and fuel-cell-powered motors, felt heavy and laborious to maneuver. As a consumer, he has no thought whether or not the bike was working as anticipated or if the issue he encountered was as a consequence of its working out of hydrogen, though the corporate is meant to dam any bike with low hydrogen reserves from being unlocked.
