Segway unveils the APEX H2, a Hydrogen hybrid electric motorcycle.
Segway-Ninebot now unveils the APEX H2, which appears to be the follow through of their Ninebot Apex formerly announced and revealed. The futuristic looking bike is planned to launch as soon as 2023, with pre orders soon to be available for early adopters in the form of crowdfunding to be opened on July 1st.
Segway is already known for its subsidiary “Sur-Ron” which also has a specific Segway model to it with minor changes, but the dirt-bikes that Sur-Ron produces are well known and loved by electric 2-wheel fans. One of the more interesting facts about the Apex H2 is the hydrogen hybrid aspect.
But before we even get into the Hybrid-Hydrogen debate – let’s look at the specs.
The suspension design stands out for the horizontal front and rear swingarms, which are also one sided. A similar suspension we’ve already seen on the Arc Vector, but that’s far from being just a photo render. The Segway Apex H2 offers on paper powerful motor of 60kW, with a top speed of 93mph (150km/h) and get from 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds. On paper that’s very interesting, and it comes with the price tag of CN¥69999 (about $10,700 USD).
The design is a very futuristic, clean line across the bike, with minimalistic looks. The hydrogen cells pops from the sides and gives it a very nice feature. There is something very special in horizontal front suspension swingarms, which is very unconventional and compliments the future design Segway were aiming at.
So, what can we expect of Hydrogen?
In a very detailed article by Theconversation.com, with plenty of sources to base the science, the fact remains that with current technology Hydrogen still falls short of electric power. In fact, it falls 35 watts (or 35% lower) then electric power. Does that spell the end of hydrogen? probably not, as the use case is not for purely hydrogen, but rather a mix of electric power where performance is wanted, and hydrogen to increase range at higher cruising speeds.
In an article on EVBOX.com, on the other hand, four expert give their take on whether the future will be Hydrogen or Electric, and while each may have his biases, here’s the preface of what Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, the Secretary General of Hydrogen Europe had to say about his belief that the future will have the best of both worlds:
“Well, my statement is surprisingly not ‘the future is just hydrogen’ because the future will be a mix. I think it was always wrong to put both technologies against each other. By the way, hydrogen-electric cars are electric cars. They produce electricity on the vehicle, but with fewer waves. I think this is one of the biggest things. I think every technology has a niche or has an application where it can perform best”… “The future is the best mix to achieve system efficiency which leads to climate efficiency.”
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Secretary General of Hydrogen Europe
The fact of the matter is, hydrogen could potentially provide the complimentary addition for electric power, and extend range by quite a bit, but the technology still has a way to go. Segway may be able to get some extended range from using hydrogen, but it remains to be seen how significant that may be and if it won’t just be a cool looking feature on an electric motorcycle.
Source: Ninebot, TheConversation.com, EVbox.com