60 km journey for 1.80 lira
The domestic hydrogen scooter, developed by HydroBorPEM operating within YTU Technopark, is ready for mass production. The scooter, called Hebunk, can travel 60 kilometers on a 5-minute charge. This means that it can cover 60 kilometers at a cost of approximately 1.80 lira.
Emphasizing that the hydrogen scooter eliminates the troublesome charging problem of electric scooters, HydroBorPEM Founding Partner Erhan Demircioğlu said, “As a result of our one-year R&D work, we produced a hydrogen scooter. The biggest problem with normal electric scooters is the charging time. It has a charging time of 5-8 hours. Apart from that, the scooter does not come out on slopes and unevenness and it carries itself to the user. I also had the same problem. Apart from these, another problem is range… You can do certain things with the battery you charge. After that you have to recharge it which takes too long. Currently, we have produced the world’s first hydrogen scooter in its class, that is, electric scooter appearance. There are hydrogen bicycles and motorcycles abroad. However, we do not have a competitor in this scooter class.” said.
Another advantage of the hydrogen scooter is the battery life. While lithium-ion batteries used in electric scooters lose great performance after 5 years, hydrogen fuel cells have a lifespan of 14 years.
Demircioğlu stated that if an investor comes to them, they can start mass production immediately. We saw that we have customers who want to buy.” said.
More environmentally friendly than electric vehicles
Pointing out that electric vehicles are not completely environmentally friendly, Demircioğlu said:
“We care about electric vehicles in terms of environmentalism, but the electricity used for charging; produced from fossil fuel power plants. Therefore, electric vehicles cannot fully meet the zero emission targets. However, in hydrogen, you can fill the cartridges by using only one water, one solar energy. You can reach ranges of up to 600 kilometers in vehicles. At the end of the day, it is a source that only releases water vapor into the environment and guarantees zero emissions as it can be produced from renewable energy sources.”