The Toyota hydrogen scooter is based on the older version of Suzuki Burgman Street 400, which was showcased quite a few years back in 2011
Toyota, the globally renowned four-wheeler brand, has filed a design patent for a hydrogen-powered scooter. We have already seen Toyota cars using hydrogen as fuel such as the Mirai. Not only just cars, but also trucks, buses and trains are running on hydrogen fuel. However, this is the first instance of a two-wheeler model using hydrogen fuel cell technology. The Toyota hydrogen scooter is based on the older version of Suzuki Burgman Street 400. It is already in public domain that Toyota and Suzuki are working together to develop HySE (Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine) technology.
Toyota hydrogen fuel cell scooter, as evident by design patent images, is a Burgman 400 fuel cell prototype which debuted long way back in 2011. However, Suzuki had recently unveiled the hydrogen internal combustion engine (HICE) based concept model of the Burgman 400 at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show. For those asking, HICE based models are cheaper to make than the hydrogen fuel cell technology.
The design patent further reveals that Toyota is quite confident about making this hydrogen fuel cell powered scooter. The company is also exploring the practical aspects of the scooter so that it makes it to the production line and doesn’t remain a concept forever. We can see a detachable hydrogen tank placed around the floorboard area, identical to the positioning of battery in electric two-wheelers.
The removable hydrogen tank eliminates the anxiety of visiting a gas station for hydrogen fueling. Toyota has also showcased a couple of ways of detaching the tank from the scooter which includes a hinged mechanism as well as scissor linkage system. The company is conducting trials to figure out the most user friendly, reliable and safe method out of these.
Fuel cell based models require cleaner hydrogen as compared to HICE based vehicles. Hence, the upcoming Toyota hydrogen cell scooter could use pre-filled cylinders to avoid the risk of contamination during transporting. Hydrogen fuel cells have only one byproduct in the form of water while it has zero emissions when procured from renewable energy sources such as solar powered electrolysis.
Meanwhile, in other news, the prominent Indian two-wheeler brands such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company are also working on hydrogen cell powered models. It is quite clear that hydrogen fuel cell based vehicles, with a swappable cylinder setup, can be handled more comfortably than the electric two-wheelers which are equipped with heavy batteries. Though, they could be highly expensive at least initially due to limited availability.
