Happy New Year! As a New Year's project, we bring you our first dream = fantasy scoop. While reflecting on the current state of the world, I hope to see a motorcycle like this in the future! The third installment of our wishful thinking is the Yamaha version, and I hope that the SDGs SR400 will carry on the tradition!
CG/SHINGRAPHIC
If it were a motorcycle, you'd want to keep thumping along on the engine.
The trend toward electric vehicles (EVs) is gaining momentum in the automotive industry, and the shift from hybrids to EVs is underway. If carbon dioxide as well as exhaust emissions produced by internal combustion engines become an issue, the decision to stop burning gasoline and switch to EVs would be a realistic choice.
But did you know that hydrogen can be used as a fuel to make use of the reciprocating engines used in ordinary motorcycles? Hydrogen emits only water when burned, so no matter how much it trsvels, it does not pollute the air and has zero carbon dioxide emissions.
Kawasaki and Yamaha are currently working on hydrogen, with Kawasaki declaring that it will release a hydrogen-engine motorcycle by 2030. Yamaha completed a hydrogen engine in 2018 on commission from Toyota, and at the president's press conference at the end of 2022, Yamaha stated that it will complete a prototype hydrogen engine motorcycle.
When commercialized in the future, I would like to propose the SR400 Hydrogen, which maximizes the appeal of the reciprocating engine that converts the up-and-down motion of the piston into rotational motion. It would be great if it could run cleanly while enjoying the thumping vibration and exhaust sound that cannot be reproduced by EVs (Enshu dialect).
YAMAHA SR400 Hydrogen. Fantasy CG created by the editorial department. The air-cooled big single with a history since 1976 was converted to a hydrogen engine. Appealing appearance and sound of the internal combustion engine!
YAMAHA V8 hydrogen engine. In-bank exhaust was used not only to improve low-speed torque due to the combustion characteristics of hydrogen, but also to achieve a harmonic racing sound with an 8-1 assembly tube. The 4968 cc engine delivers 455 PS.
The challenge is to build fuel tanks and hydrogen supply infrastructure
Hydrogen is said to be a dream fuel, but because it is a dream, there are many challenges. First of all, hydrogen stations have not yet been established. EVs can be recharged at homes, highway SAs, and other locations, but hydrogen is not even on the horizon, so even if a vehicle is available, it will have practical problems.
Kawasaki, Subaru, Toyota, Mazda, and Yamaha have announced that they will work together to expand the options for making and using fuel in order to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of 2021. Although still in the experimental stage of racing, this is a step in the right direction.
The other issue is unique to motorcycles: how to safely carry hydrogen, which becomes liquid at minus 253 degrees Celsius. The hydrogen motorcycle unveiled by Kawasaki at the Milan show has a full hydrogen tank in the pannier case, and it will not be easy to achieve this on a motorcycle with limited space.
However, Yamaha President Hidaka stated that as EVs become larger, they will require more space for a battery. He is negative about EVs for fan motorcycles larger than 250cc, saying that incorporating a battery and motor into the current engine space would make them too heavy, and has indicated that he intends to promote the use of hydrogen engines. I definitely hope to see this become a reality in the future!
KAWASAKI Hydrogen Motorcycle. The element symbol of hydrogen is "H", and when hydrogen is burned, water is produced, but the element symbol is "H2O". Is the H2 system the perfect base for a hydrogen motorcycle? The actual vehicle does not seem to exist.
In the released image, the hydrogen fuel tank is mounted on the pannier case. Considering the loadability of luggage, it will be a challenge to determine where and how the fuel tank will be loaded when the vehicle is put into practical use.
