Fuel cell scooters

Fig. 6.31 Hard hybrid procedure during R40 cycle on fuel cell scooter, a electric energy profiles instantaneously exchanged by electric drive, battery pack, and FCS with the electric bus versus cycle length, b histogram of individual cell voltage during the steady-state FCS working...

The third path is one in which a rapidly developing country, such as China, whose transportation infrastructure is less developed and hence less ingrained, moves first to a hydrogen-based system. Cars may not even be the main, or initial, focus of this path. Rather, the transition may begin with fuel cell scooters and bikes. For China, with its vast coal resources, lack of domestic oil, and serious pollution concerns, this path has a strong appeal. The result could be a dominating lead in future fuel cell markets. 

The transition might not start with cars. Scooters are an inexpensive substitute for cars in many countries. Several companies believe fuel cell scooters can be a viable option in these countries. Gasoline-powered scooters have been banned from cities such as Beijing and Shanghai because of the amount of pollution they spew. These bikes and scooters are very popular in Beijing, where the scooters sell for less than 300. In response to such bans, a market in electric bicycles and scooters has developed. While these bikes do not travel at the speeds of scooters, they are considerably cheaper. China Daily (2006) reports that China plans on producing 30 million electric bikes per year by 2010 and notes that "electric bike production in China accounts for about 90% of the world s total." While these bikes are not powered by fuel cells, they do offer speedy transportation at a fraction of the cost of automobiles. 

Several companies are developing fuel cell scooters. One company, Vetrix, located in the United States and Europe, already is promoting... 

HYCHAIN (2011) Fuel Cell Scooter, http //www.hychain.org/newhychain/ showroom/scooter.htm (last accessed 9 May 2011). 

A comparison with the commercial scooters powered by 50 cm spark ignition engines, made in terms of energy consumption per unit of traveled distance on the same standard driving cycle, evidences that a very strong reduction of consumed kJ km is possible for the fuel cell power train, in particular its overall efficiency results about 2.5 times better than conventional propulsion systems. 

Design, build, and test a 40-cell, 35 cm active area active/passive fuel cell stack to power the threewheeled scooter. 

Built, tested, and installed a 40-cell fuel cell stack in a three-wheeled scooter. 

Demonstrated fuel cell-powered scooter at public demonstrations and to visiting scientists and DOE officials. 

To adapt a personal mobility scooter to fuel cell-powered operation, it was first necessary to determine peak and average power requirements of a standard battery-equipped scooter. A battery-powered scooter was equipped with current and voltage monitoring circuitry and was driven under common operating conditions. A minimum power output requirement for the fuel cell stack was found. The scooter electrical system and physical... 

The fuel cell-powered scooter project has provided valuable insights into fuel cell operation under real-world conditions as well as monitoring and control strategies to maximize power and efficiency. The electronics developed for the project have found dual use with other fuel cell testing systems. Additionally, the fuel cell-powered scooter has proven valuable as a way to illustrate and demystify fuel cell systems, and as a public relations tool to promote alternative energy research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

Figure 5. Fuel Cell Monitoring and Control Electronics Circuit Board Mounted on Scooter Drive Unit...

In China, the Vetrix scooter likely will face some tough competition from several indigenous electric bikes and scooters. A serious issue, however, is the already-overloaded Chinese power grid. The Chinese literally cannot build new power plants fast enough to handle increasing demand for electricity. Drennen (2005) estimates the Chinese will require additional capacity requirements of 320 to 750 GW by 2025. This implies the need for 16-38 new 1000 MW electricity-generating facilities every year - without factoring in any additional demand from the transport sector. Fuel cells could help to fill this market need. 

Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies (APFCT) has developed a series of prototype zero emissions scooters (ZEV) for the Taiwanese and, potentially, other markets. According to the Taiwanese company, the most recent prototype, the ZEV IV.5, has a maximum speed of 52 km/hr, a driving range of about 60 km at a driving speed of 30km/hr, and runs on pure hydrogen (APFCT 2006). Based on the compan)r s estimates. 

Mobile applications with a power range between 100 W and 5kW are called light traction applications [51]. Similarly to automotive applications, fuel cells are also very attractive for these special vehicles as they are emission free and offer a very fast recharge [51]. The group of light traction applications includes scooters, forklift trucks, and commercial vehicles. The following technical overview gives some examples. 

Industry and Business. One of the main business sectors for electronic vehicles includes forkhfts and other indoor equipment for confined or explosive environments, such as mines. Other sectors that have made profits over the past years include electric scooters and small electric bicycles. And while there is significant media attention on electric cars, both fuel cell and battery based, as well as hybrid-electric vehicles, their contribution to the global automobile market is negligibly small and requires significant governmental incentives to become a fairer part of the global automotive economy. 

Scooters and bicycles - Several companies (Palcan, Asian Pacific and Manhattan Scientific) have demonstrated fuel cell-powered scooters and bicycles [1]. 

Many factors are contributing to the fuel cell push in the automotive market. The availability of fossil fuels is limited, and due to this, an inevitable price increase will occur. In addition, legislation is becoming stricter about controlling environmental emissions in many countries all over the world. One of the new pieces of legislation that will help introduce the fuel cell automobile market in the United States is the Californian zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires that a certain number of vehicles be sold annually in California. Fuel cell vehicles also have the ability to be more fuel efficient than vehicles powered by other fuels. This power technology allows a new range of power use in small two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles, boats, scooters, unmanned vehicles, and other utility vehicles [30-34],... 

In Thailand, DMFC fuels cells have been seriously considered to power scooters with minimum cost and complexity. In the transportation segment, there is great interest in the design and development of low-cost fuel cells to provide a clean, reliable, and safe alternate power source of electrical energy. These low-cost, low-power fuel cells can be designed to meet the energy demand ranging from 1 to 10 kWh capacity. 

Deployment of fuel cell technology has been accelerated in commercial, military, and space applications. Fuel cells were widely used in space apphcations as early as the 1960s and demonstrated remarkable reliability and longevity. Fuel cells have been widely used by buses, automobiles, and scooters since 1990s. Fuel cells have... 

These fuel cells are compact, relatively cheap, more reliable, and safe to operate. Such fuel cells are best suited for powering small vehicles such as scooters to operate in urban traffic environments, because the power-to-weight (P/W) ratio is large and the CH3OH is rather cheap. The P/W ratio is better than... 

Compact Fuel Cells for Cars, Scooters, and Motor Bikes... 

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