Two Dutch hydrogen pioneers have worked together with the Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen to develop a Hydrogen Range Extender. They call it the HyRange. Making it possible to run your electric scooter, bicycle or scooter longer on clean fuel. Giving the benefits of exhausting pure water and extending range, while having less impact on the environment.

The reason for the project is the energy transition facing the Netherlands and the rest of the world. Fossil fuels will make way for zero-emission alternatives and combustion engines will make way for electric engines.

The biggest challenge right now is still refueling hydrogen. “Since the infrastructure in the Netherlands is far from being able to make hydrogen widely available, we are still looking for an appropriate scalable solution there.”

Electric batteries are not the future

Most electric vehicles are supplied with electricity by batteries. The battery is charged via a charging station. Although this is better for the environment then fossil fuels, we can all agree that it has a number of drawbacks:

Relatively little energy can be taken along. ( +- 15km on an electric skateboard.. we want more!)

As a result, the vehicle has a less range and / or motor power compared to fossil-powered vehicles.

The battery often has to charge for hours.

The battery contains rare metals.

Advantages of hydrogen

In an electric vehicle with a range extender, the electric current mainly comes from a fuel cell. This cell converts hydrogen gas (H2) into electricity onboard the vehicle. Furthermore, only (pure) water is released during this conversion. A battery is not yet required for peak power and regenerative braking energy, but it is much smaller. By using the range extender:

Much more energy can be included because the energy in hydrogen is considerably more compact and lighter than the comparable amount of energy in batteries.

This allows the vehicle to have sufficient range and/or engine power, which is comparable to fossil-powered vehicles;

The hydrogen cylinder on board is charged in a few minutes;

A much smaller battery is needed, and perhaps not at all in the future;

Proof-of-Concept

As a Proof-of-Concept, they mounted the HyRange on a Xiaomi electric scooter. However, the HyRange is suitable for any 2-wheeled vehicle, from e-scooters to electric motorcycles. The project is still under development, and it looks very promising. Stay tuned via their (Dutch) website: https://allesoverwaterstof.nl/hyrange/

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