Honda Motor Co. Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) announced that it has built scooters powered by fuel cells and gasoline-electric engines, extending the technology for the first time to two-wheeled vehicles. The company has developed a scooter with a hydrogen fuel cell power plant the size of a normal 125 cm³ gasoline engine, as well as a so-called hybrid two-wheeler with a 50 cc engine.
Honda spokesman Tetsuya Ikeda declined to say when the hybrid or the fuel cell scooters will go on sale, how much they might cost, how the hybrid scooter works, or the technology involved. Honda's hybrid scooter, which does not yet have a model name, will be the same size as its Dio Z4 model. It emits 37% less carbon dioxide than a gasoline-powered Dio and is 1.6 times more fuel efficient, according to Honda.
