Japanese motorbike Kawasaki has invested heavily in electric powertrains, but it’s not ready to give up on internal combustion engines just yet. It has revealed a prototype powered by an experimental hydrogen-burning supercharged four-cylinder engine.
Development work begins in 2022, based on enthusiast website Motorbikeand Kawasaki became the first company to publicly test a hydrogen-burning motorcycle when it introduced its prototype on the Suzuka circuit in 2008. JapanPower comes from a 998cc turbocharged four-cylinder engine that’s related to the one found in the Ninja. H2but it has been modified to burn hydrogenIn theory, this sounds like it should. What Toyota is testing. In contrast, companies like BMW car use hydrogen to generate electricity in the same drive system as the hybrid car.
During testing Wreath looks very similar to the model sitting on your nearest chair dealer The Kawasaki prototype features a futuristic design, characterized by sharp curves. Integrating hydrogen tanks into a motorcycle is more difficult than it is in a car. In this application, hydrogen is stored in a pair of luggage-like tanks positioned behind the rider. It is lighter than gasoline, so the placement of the tanks will not seriously affect weight distribution, but it is not as dense as gasoline, so Kawasaki needs larger tanks to achieve the same range. We are told that the chassis of the prototype is completely new; it was developed from the ground up with hydrogen technology in mind.
Specifications such as horsepower, range, and weight have yet to be released. However, project leader Satoaki Ichi notes that the prototype will feel and sound like a conventional gasoline-powered motorcycle, with a few added benefits. “Hydrogen burns faster and over a wider range of conditions than gasoline, which helps create a more responsive feel than ever before,” he says.
Hydrogen-powered motorcycles face the same big hurdle as hydrogen-powered cars: lack of infrastructure. With that in mind, there’s no word yet on the future of the Kawasaki prototype, let alone when we’ll see it in showrooms. Kawasaki is working with rivals Suzuki, Honda’s motobikeand Yamaha on the technology, but Ichi stressed that the project is still in the early stages of development.
