[TMS] Suzuki Fuel-cell Scooter Runs 350km

Oct 23, 2009 14:35 Hideyoshi Kume, Nikkei Electronics

Suzuki Motor Corp exhibited its "Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter" for reference at Tokyo Motor Show 2009, which opens to the public from Oct 24 through Nov 4, 2009.

Suzuki increased the amount of hydrogen fuel that can be stored in the scooter by using a hydrogen tank with a maximum working pressure of 70MPa. The "crosscage," the fuel-cell bike it showed off at Tokyo Motor Show 2007, has a tank with a maximum working pressure of 35MPa.

The volume of the new tank is about 10L. And the Burgman can run about 350km when it runs on a flat, paved road at 30km/h.

The fuel cell unit is an air-cooled PEFC (polymer electrolyte fuel cell) manufactured by Intelligent Energy Ltd. According to Suzuki, the PEFC enables to reduce the number of auxiliaries such as compressors, compared with a water-cooled PEFC.

Though the company did not reveal the output and other specifications of the Burgman, it said that the scooter has a performance equivalent to a scooter equipped with a gasoline engine of 50 to 125cc displacement. A lithium-ion battery unit with a capacity of about 500Wh is used to supply power for acceleration and to store regenerative electric power and surplus electricity generated by the fuel cell unit.

The Burgman is based on the "Burgman 125" scooter, which Suzuki is producing in Spain and selling in Europe. The company remodeled the existing scooter so that it becomes easier to receive a permission to conduct a field test on a public road. The dimensions of the Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter is 2,055 (L) x 740 (W) x 1,360mm (H).

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