The hydrogen scooter, which has been developed by young entrepreneurs and made ready for mass production and has a range of 60 kilometers, can be charged in just 5 minutes and can go uphill.
While interest in electric vehicles has increased around the world, environmentally friendly and micromobility vehicles such as bicycles and electric scooters have recently come to the fore.
After the use of electric scooters in Turkey, especially in metropolitan cities, has become widespread, interest in these technologies is also increasing.
HydroBorPEM Fuel Cell Technologies engineers, which was founded by young entrepreneurs at ITU Seed, the incubation center of ITU Arı Teknokent and currently operating within YTU Teknopark, rolled up their sleeves a year ago to make this transportation vehicle hydrogen, on the grounds that electric scooters have “mistakes”.
The hydrogen scooter, which was implemented as an incubation initiative and was implemented with the one-year work of 4 Turkish young engineers in the company, which continues to work in order to move hydrogen technologies forward, managed to attract attention.
The hydrogen scooter named “hebunk”, which can be charged in just 5 minutes, can travel 60 kilometers on a single charge and can go uphill, has been made ready for mass production.
Investors are expected for the mass production of the scooter, which was implemented by Erhan Demircioğlu, Mustafa Seçer, Ahmet Seçer and Kader Tümer.
“The result of our one-year R&D work”
HydroBorPEM Founding Partner, Erhan Demircioğlu, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that there has been a rapid increase in the number of electric scooters with the spread of micromobility and shared vehicles, and mentioned the advantages these vehicles offer in terms of transportation.
Demircioğlu said that he had bought an electric scooter before, but when he looked, most of the time of the vehicle was spent for charging and he encountered other problems.
Demircioğlu stated that he could not climb the slopes on his way to the office, that the range was insufficient from time to time, and that they came up with the idea of using hydrogen as a fuel to solve the problems they see in electric scooters, and continued his words as follows:
“As a result of our one-year R&D work, we produced a hydrogen scooter. The biggest problem in normal electric scooters is the charging time. There is a charging time of 5-8 hours. Apart from that, the scooter does not come out on hills and bumps, and it carries itself to the user. I had the same problem. Apart from these, another problem is range. You can do certain things with the battery you charge. After that, you have to recharge it, which takes a long time.”
It can be charged in 5 minutes and has a range of 60 kilometers.
Erhan Demircioğlu stated that they thought about how to eliminate these problems and that they predicted that the hydrogen scooter would solve these problems. We can have a range of 60 kilometers. It can easily tolerate the instantaneous current draws of the engine in situations such as hills and unevenness. Hydrogen has a high chemical energy.” he said.
Demircioğlu stated that there is an inclination sensor inside the scooter and said, “When it understands that there is a slope in software, it switches to the performance that best relieves the characteristics and characterizations of the engine and can climb any slope. That is, we solve the problems of long charging time, not being able to go uphill and having a low range that we encounter in electric scooters. ” said.
“First of its class in the world”
HydroBorPEM Founding Partner Demircioğlu explained that they have been working on producing hydrogen technologies for 11 years, and they have been working on many issues from fuel cells to hydrogen tanks and charging stations at the point they arrived.
Stating that they have obtained both national and international patents for the hydrogen scooter they produce, Demircioğlu said, “We produce technology that has passed all kinds of safety measures and procedures. Currently, we have produced the world’s first hydrogen scooter in its class, that is, electric scooter appearance. There are hydrogen bicycles and motorcycles abroad. However, we do not have a competitor in this scooter class.”
“Charging cost 1.8 lira, ready for mass production”
Erhan Demircioğlu, on how the scooter will be charged, said, “When the charge is finished, our recharging time is 5 minutes. The cost of this is 1.8 liras. So we can cover 60 kilometers for 1.8 liras.” used the phrases.
Demircioğlu said that they went to the investors when they were going to make the product for the first time, and said that they heard words like “You can’t do it, it’s an imaginary product, maybe it will happen in the future”, and then they took action on their own.
Demircioğlu stated that they have done a lot of trials so far and they have been successful, “At last, we are at a point that is ready for mass production, the commercial version is completed, it can be charged in 5 minutes, has a range of 60 kilometers, successfully passed the hill tests, and obtained the safety approvals of the hydrogen tanks. We did it by believing.” he said.
Stating that there is not enough work on hydrogen in Turkey, Demircioğlu said that this energy is overshadowed by electricity, but there is a tendency towards hydrogen in Europe.
“Hydrogen cartridges have nearly 3 times the life of lithium-ion batteries”
Erhan Demircioğlu stated that the life of a lithium ion battery is 5 years and said:
“However, in hydrogen technology, especially the hydrogen fuel cells we have developed have a lifespan of 14 years. In addition, a single hydrogen cartridge generates power equivalent to the energy of 10 lithium-ion batteries. Hydrogen is ahead in all aspects such as weight, lightness, size and cost. Also, environmentalism. We care about electric vehicles in terms of environmentalism, but the electricity used for charging is produced from power plants using fossil fuels. Therefore, electric vehicles cannot fully meet the zero emission targets. However, you can fill the cartridges in hydrogen using only one water and one solar energy. You can reach ranges of up to 600 kilometers in vehicles. At the end of the day, it is a source that only releases water vapor into the environment and guarantees zero emissions because it can be produced from renewable energy sources.”
Source AA
