First Hydrogen-powered motorbikeThe ENV (Emissions Neutral Vehicle) is the world's first environmentally friendly, hydrogen powered motorbike. It has a top speed of 50mph and will run for 4 hours on a full tank of fuel and the only emissions are water vapour.  It was designed by Intelligent Energy, but it was built to their brief by a British team of designers & engineers led by award-winning Seymourpowell. 
The ENV is powered by a detachable fuel cell called The Core, made by Intelligent Energy, the fuel cell can power anything from a motorboat, caravan or even a small domestic home.
It doesn't only use hydrogen for fuel, it also has a hybridised engine which takes power from a powerful electric battery during peak power usage, giving it some extra performance while accellerating. 
The bike has been taken for a test-ride by a BBC journalist who describes it as "Weird. Weird and fun." "The only noise is from the tyres and the wind whistling through your crash helmet. People don't look around as you approach - they just stare after you've gone past.". He also likened the accelleration to a 125cc scooter and the engine noise to that of a milk float.
The bike is almost completely silent, the noise level is about the same as a home computer. But there's a few problems with the ENV; Costs £6,000 - could get a much more powerful petrol bike. Nowhere to re-fuel, although hydrogen is fairly cheap & plentiful, there's currently very few places where you can get it. Making hydrogen isn't currently very environmentally friendly, most of it is produced from fossil fuels, although it produces a lot less harmful material than making petrol. It's a great development for the environmentally friendly, but it will never catch on with bikers that love the speed & power of a petrol combustion engine. Links: Intelligent Energy main site Intelligent Energy ENV page BBC - Test riding first hydrogen bike Email this story to a friend  Add this link to:            
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