Yamaha Opens Options To Bring More Environmentally Friendly Motorcycles In Europe, Including Hydrogen

The motor engine V8 hydrogen developed by Yamaha. (Doc. Yamaha Motor)

JAKARTA - Along with the development of the global automotive industry towards alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly, several manufacturers are currently continuing to strive to present zero-emission vehicles, including in the two-wheeled vehicle category.

Currently, various motorcycle manufacturers have released models that can play a role in reducing emissions, such as Kawasaki, which offers electric and hybrid motorcycles in the market. However, its main competitor, Yamaha, carries a different approach to vehicles with sustainable energy sources.

Eric de Seynes, President of Yamaha Motor Europe, stated that the two-wheeled vehicle market with sustainable energy offers various options, including hydrogen use. Yamaha has also committed to working with other manufacturers such as Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki in the development of hydrogen combustion engines, with the support of Toyota and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

"Hydrogen is clearly a future technology, but still requires a lot of energy. Therefore, until the world is able to produce more clean and environmentally friendly energy, hydrogen remains a dream," said de Seynes as quoted by Motorcyclenews, Saturday, December 30, 2023.

In early December, Yamaha announced its plans to showcase a prototype of the V8 hydrogen engine at the Miami International Boat Show 2024 which will take place on February 15-18.

However, Yamaha is faced with several challenges related to the use of hydrogen. The sustainability of hydrogen energy requires three times the space of conventional fuel tanks. If hydrogen is packaged in liquid form, then this energy has a boiling point of up to -252.9 degrees Celsius, requiring cryogenic storage or temperature maintenance to stay in liquid form.

'The participation in this consortium is because the technology is sophisticated, and it's better if we collaborate. This makes sense if there is a consortium and cooperation until the market is ready. Even in the short term, internal combustion engines remain the best technology we can get," added de Seynes.

However, the European Yamaha CEO also stressed the desire to keep conventional combustion engines on his vehicles and immediately switch to synthetic fuels. Thus, Yamaha still provides motors with combustion engines in its vehicles, but with lower amounts of emissions.

"We will continue to improve the efficiency of combustion engines. This is in line with the standards of Euro5 and Euro5+, as well as Euro6, which make it even cleaner," he concluded.