The Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell, as demo'd by the London Metropolitan Police about five years ago. Photo: Suzuki

There is much ink spilled (both virtually and in the few remaining physical print mags) about the future of electric motorcycles, but there is another alternative to battery power, if you want to build an eco-friendly motorcycle: You can also use hydrogen as a fuel. So why haven’t motorcycles adopted this technology? It’s because there are some very good aspects to hydrogen power, but also some serious downsides.

First off, note that hydrogen can be used to create electrical energy via a “fuel cell,” and that energy can be used to power a vehicle. Hydrogen can also be used in an internal combustion engine, just like gasoline. So why is hydrogen “green,” if gasoline isn’t? It comes down to emissions; instead of hydrocarbons spewing out the exhaust, a hydrogen fuel cell emits water. A hydrogen combustion engine emits nitrogen oxides and is considered less environmentally friendly as a result. That’s a very simplified explanation, and there are other advantages and disadvantages over petro-based fuels that we don’t have the space for here; for a good overview of the properties of hydrogen as a fuel, and its advantages and disadvantages, there’s a helpful write-up at the US Department of Energy’s website here, and another at US Energy Information Administration website here.

From the perspective of a vehicle, hydrogen has major advantages over battery power. It can be used as a fuel source without requiring complicated power grid infrastructure. It’s also possible to recharge a hydrogen storage tank very quickly, within minutes, whereas a battery-powered EV can take hours. Finally, from a non-motorcycle perspective, it may be possible to more easily heat a car in a cold climate with a hydrogen-powered engine, vs. an electric motor with a battery pack.

However, there are other major disadvantages, particularly relating to hydrogen’s Big Problem: While hydrogen fuel cells are extremely efficient, the hydrogen itself takes up a lot of volume, when compared to gasoline, and it’s under pressure. Instead of a heavy battery, you’ve now got a heavy tank of compressed gas powering your vehicle, and what do you think happens when that tank is damaged in a crash, and some gas escapes …

The Hindenburg Disaster has long served as a warning towards the dangers of hydrogen, when things go wrong. In the 1937 fire, 35 of the 97 people aboard the airliner died, ending the era of airship travel. Photo: Dutch national archives

To be fair—hydrogen-powered vehicles are already on the road all over the world, and we certainly haven’t heard of any apocalyptic fireballs as a result yet.

Still. Motorcycles seem dangerous enough, without adding hydrogen power to the mix, so why propose it as a fuel?

Again, it’s because hydrogen isn’t dependent on super-chargers and other electro-wizardry, and that’s important in a world with a power grid that is currently insufficient to power all the vehicles we need.

So far, while the Japanese OEMs are messing around with this tech, it’s mostly been limited to vehicles that don’t have two wheels. Kawasaki is reportedly teaming up with Airbus to examine the idea of hydrogen-powered aircraft. Now, Kawasaki is a big company, and that doesn’t guarantee trickle-down to the spin-off motorcycle division, but it’s a start. As we’ve also told you recently, Yamaha is working on a hydrogen-powered V8 engine; like Kawasaki, Yamaha is a big company, and just because one division is working on a project doesn’t mean it’s about to be adopted elsewhere. However, as far back as 2019, Yamaha showed off a hydrogen-powered personal transportation vehicle. This stuff is very much going on behind the scenes.

Those aren’t production-ready vehicles, though, let alone motorcycles. Is the idea of a hydrogen-powered bike all just speculation? Nope. In 2009, Suzuki built a hydrogen-powered scooter, the Burgman Fuel Cell, which the Metropolitan Police actually tested in London around 2017. Suffice to say, these aren’t available at your local dealerships, so that lets you know how popular they are (see one demo’d below).

That vehicle was a start, and as the battery bike revolution drags onwards, expect the OEMs to further investigate this technology.