No-plug pedelec – the Alter Bike fuel cell bicycle
November 22, 2013
The Alter Bike is a fuel cell electric bicycle that has no need for plugs and sockets.
Electric bicycles, or pedelecs, do not have the same requirement for recharging infrastructure as electric cars – after all, if you run out of juice, you just pedal home – but every electric vehicle (EV) benefits from increased autonomy, and the fuel can help.
Fuel cells are not a new idea – they were invented in 1838, which makes them almost exactly the same age as the bicycle.
A fuel cell converts the energy from a fuel (like Hydrogen) into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen. Fuel cells require a constant source of fuel to sustain the chemical reaction, but unlike batteries, which eventually go flat, they can produce electricity for as long fuel and oxygen are supplied.
Hydrogen fuel for the Alter Bike is stored in small cartridges. Its range is limited only by the number of cartridges you carry.
No word on the price or availability of the Alter Bike, but you can see more of it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKR32ncntWM
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Information correct at time of publication.