{"id":7905,"date":"2013-06-22T21:49:30","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T04:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=7905"},"modified":"2013-06-22T21:49:30","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T04:49:30","slug":"swapping-rather-than-recharging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/swapping-rather-than-recharging\/","title":{"rendered":"Swapping Rather Than Recharging"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Tesla now promising 90-second battery swaps<\/a>, a \u201crecharging\u201d tactic first tried by Shai Agassi\u2019s A Better Place<\/a>, an Israeli company now in bankruptcy, the long recharging period for electric vehicles may be overcome.\u00a0 Car companies, though, are not the only entities looking for ways to get unplugged.<\/p>\n

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The Gitane H2\/lithium-ion powered electric bicycle to be rented by EuroCycle<\/p><\/div>\n

Presented at the 20th Congress of the “Club des Villes et Territoires Cyclables” in Nice, the Alter Bike is a collaboration of three French companies: Cycleurope<\/a>, a specialist in bicycles; \u00a0Pragma Industries<\/a>, a specialist in hydrogen; and Ventec<\/a>, a specialist in battery management.<\/p>\n

They tout the advantages of this different approach to electrifying two-wheelers \u2013 an approach that seems to have applications even in electric flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more charging time, no need to plug your bike into an electrical outlet! The Alter Bike uses\u00a0hydrogen\u00a0in a fuel cell: an existing technology in some cars, it can create electricity while emitting only H2O, in other words water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRefueling\u201d looks like changing an oil filter on a car, twisting a small metal canister from its mount and replacing the spent H2<\/sub> cartridge with a new one.\u00a0 One needs only carry additional cartridges filled with hydrogen-bearing metal hydrides to extend the electric bicycle\u2019s range, or stop at a shop that carries the cartridges.\u00a0 The cartridges can be refilled and reused multiple times.<\/p>\n

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More mileage for the Gitane fuel cell bicycle, looking much like an oil filter<\/p><\/div>\n

To develop such fuel cell vehicles, those in collaboration have had to cook up a number of interesting technological solutions, including \u201ca new breed of hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen chemical storage in recyclable canisters, as well as hybrid electronic architecture balancing power needs between the Li-ion battery and the hydrogen fuel cell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The battery management system (BMS)\/motor controller system probably has some interesting protocols, balancing not only the lithium-ion batteries and feeding their energy to the motor but integrating the fuel cell\u2019s contribution.<\/p>\n

CycleEurope will rent the bikes at first, with retail sales starting sometime in 2016.<\/p>\n

Technical details are not abundant in the companies\u2019 press release, but a similar effort in Hawaii using fuel-cell-powered scooters gives some idea of the energy needed to store enough hydrogen in canister form to power a vehicle.<\/p>\n