It's been a long wait for the hydrogen car and while all the major manufacturers have been grappling with technical and fuel distribution issues, a chemical engineering group at the University of NSW has given us the hydrogen-powered push bike.

The Hi-Cycle can cruise at 20km/h for a maximum range of 125 kilometres. That's a bit like travelling from Strathfield to the CBD and back five days a week and only refilling once - assuming you don't pedal at all.

There are two options for refilling. Either recharge the Lithium-ion battery from your mains which takes six hours or swap hydrogen canisters which takes 30 seconds.

According to one of the UNSW researchers from the School of Chemical Engineering, Associate Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou, the development of the Hi-Cycle is about demonstrating hydrogen's potential as a clean and safe energy.