Editor’s note: Congratulations to our friends at Ecotality on the beta launch of their new blog, Ecotality Life (and for snagging our own Michael d’Estries as Senior Editor). We’ll be continuing our Friday post swaps with Ecotality, and we’re very impressed with the quality and direction of the new blog. Today’s post was originally published on September 6, 2007.

A company in China just came out with a new hydrogen bike. The company, Shanghai Pearl Hydrogen Power Source Technology Co, unveiled its creation at the 9th China International Exhibition on Gas Technology, Equipment and Applications. How they have gone 9 years with a name that long, I have no idea. You would think they would have learned from The InterUniversal Meeting of Those Who Like to Attend Expositions in Foreign Countries and Star Systems, but are too Afraid to Leave Their Respective Houses (IUMTWLAEFCSSALRH). At any rate, the bike seems to be a bit of a hit at the show. They already have some orders for it, and for a cool $2,600, who could resist? Never fear: they expect to have the price down to about $500 as soon as they can start mass producing them. No word on when that will be, but have faith.

The bike is clearly superior to electric bikes…with the exception of the price tag it has right now. It runs on renewable hydrogen, using a fuel cell. The tanks, conveniently located behind the seat for you convenience, take about half an hour to recharge, compared to a battery’s three hours. The tanks are also significantly lighter than the standard lead batteries on electrics. I’ll have to check in with my research team, but preliminary guesses are pointing to the LEAD for the extra weight. It is a delicious snack, but lead is not all that practical when trying to reduce weight. The bikes have a cruising speed of about 15 mph, for about 60 miles. That’s pretty good; I mean it is no Lance Armstrong, but I doubt you could buy Lance to pedal you around for under $2,600.