At the tail-end of last week’s Tokyo Motor Show Suzuki unveiled an exciting e-scooter concept, the Burgman, powered by a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and a li-ion battery.

Suzuki says that the innovative powertrain would enable the Burgman to reach distances of up to 220 miles at an average speed of 30kph (20mph) - so no wild freeway jaunts just yet then.

However, the company also reckon that performance will be comparable to a standard 125cc scooter (but I’d imagine that riding at higher speeds would most likely significantly reduce range).

Read more of this story »

To many Americans, India is just another one of those countries with LOTS of people in the general vicinity of China where they sometimes get routed when they call customer support with questions about why the new HP they just bought won’t turn on.

And that’s a shame, really, because India has so much to offer. From excellent food to the funky movie scene, India has some pretty great stuff. And now we can add another bean to India’s basket — the country has been stealthily gaining a reputation with auto manufacturers as the place to build fuel-efficient, small cars for export to the rest of the world.

Read more of this story »

Instead of a standard fuel tank, the ENV (short for Emissions Neutral Vehicle) contains an onboard fuel cell that can be filled with hydrogen in just three minutes. The cell then converts the hydrogen to electricity, enabling speeds of over 50 mph, and a range of 100 miles, with no emissions except warm air and water.

Read more of this story »

Last week, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical exhibited a fuel cell-based power supply unit that is small enough to be used in an electric wheelchair. The microwave oven-sized unit, which weighs 22 kg, has an output of 300W and can run for eight hours with a 4-liter fuel tank. Hitachi exhibited a similar power supply unit in July, but it only had an output of 100W with a running time of 2.5 hours.

Read more of this story »

According to the Nikkei Business Daily (via Tradingmarkets.com), Japan’s Suzuki Motor Company will begin selling cars that run completely on 100% ethanol in the US and Brazil by 2010. The company will begin the transition by first offering an E25 sedan for sale in Brazil this coming March.

Currently the most ethanol that a flex-fuel car can run on in the US is E85 — which is an 85% ethanol/15% gasoline blend. Suzuki’s move would mark a huge development in ethanol-powered vehicles, and a huge shift for Suzuki, which hasn’t had any alternative fuel-specific offerings in its lineup to this point.

Read more of this story »