The French company Mob-ion, focused on the development of sustainable urban transport solutions, has just presented the AM1 prototype, an electric scooter whose main peculiarity is that it renounces the use of batteries in favour of a hydrogen fuel cell system, a solution that until now we have only seen in larger electric vehicles.
This motorcycle has been developed in collaboration with STOR-H, and will use replaceable hydrogen cartridges of cylindrical design to power its 4 HP (3 kW) engine. These cartridges will be the size of two soda cans, and according to the company, they will take up much less space and be lighter than lithium-ion batteries.
This will translate into more storage space and higher efficiency, among other things. Although the hydrogen cartridges will be able to directly power the electric motor, they will also charge a 2.4 kWh capacity battery. The maximum autonomy with both cartridges loaded will be about 140 km.
Thanks to the use of this technology, users will not have to charge their electric scooter. Instead, STOR-H plans to create a retail cartridge exchange program. In addition, those customers who want to increase the autonomy of their motorcycle will simply have to transport additional cartridges in the cargo space.
Mob-ion wants to implement this technology in other types of vehicles, the AM1 electric scooter being simply the first step in that direction. Although its arrival in production will not occur until early 2023, the French company estimates that it will already have a completely functional electric scooter prototype by the autumn of this year.