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Honda builds scooters that use fuel cells, gas-electric engines

Author: N/A

Publishing date: 08.27.2004 12:19

Honda said it has built scooters powered by fuel cells and gasoline-electric engines, extending the hybrid technology for the first time to two-wheeled vehicles.

The automaker developed a scooter with a fuel cell-power plant the size of a normal 125-cubic-centimeter gasoline engine as well as a so-called hybrid two-wheeler with a 50cc engine, Honda President Takeo Fukui told reporters at the company's research center in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

Record-high gasoline prices and tightening air-pollution laws prompted Honda and bigger rival Toyota to begin selling hybrid cars that have lower emissions. Honda is trying to apply the technology in two-wheelers to extend its lead over motorcycle makers Suzuki and Yamaha.

Honda spokesman Tetsuya Ikeda declined to say when the hybrid or the fuel-cell scooters would go on sale. He did not provide any details of the models' sale price.

By extending its technology into motorcycles and scooters, Honda is also competing in an industry where it doesn't have a rival. Toyota, the world's largest maker of hybrid cars, doesn't make motorcycles or scooters. Honda's hybrid scooter, which doesn't yet have a model name, will be the same size as its current Dio Z4 model. It emits 37 percent less carbon dioxide than a gasoline-powered Dio and is 1.6 times more fuel efficient, Honda said.

Honda didn't say how the hybrid scooter works. A car that runs on a hybrid engine, such as the Honda Accord or the Toyota Prius models, combines a gasoline engine with a battery pack.

At low speeds, electricity powers the vehicle; the gasoline engine takes over as the car gains speed. The battery is recharged using the gasoline engine and the brakes. Honda has also developed a scooter that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell, using its own stack, the part of the system that combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. The company did not give any details about the fuel-cell scooter.

August 24, 2004

BY KAE INOUE

Bloomberg News

Official Press Release:
http://world.honda.com/news/2004/2040824_03.html

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