NCKU Unveils New Hydrogen Fueled Electric Scooter

TAINAN, TAIWAN -- December 4, 2014: National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, has unveiled its very first hydrogen fueled electric scooter called “Pegasus One” recently. “The test result is promising! The maiden voyage of 80 km is accomplished easily, and the overall range will reach more than 160 km,” said Dr. Wei-Hsiang Lai, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at NCKU.

“The test result is promising! The maiden voyage of 80 km is accomplished easily, and the overall range will reach more than 160 km”

The “Pegasus One” developed by Dr. Lai’s research team in cooperation with local enterprises made its maiden trial run on December 1. It completed a round-trip drive of over 80 km between Kaohsiung's Alian District and Tainan's Hsinhua District.

Dr. Lai said, the “Pegasus One” is upgraded from the original electrical scooter to the current hybrid power combining fuel cell and lithium battery.

He also said, the overall vehicle structure is revised, especially its power and monitoring system. Fuel cell is added to enhance its range with multiplying electrical capacity by charging battery from fuel cell.

The vehicle has added a 3-kW Ballard fuel cell and two high pressure hydrogen storage cylinders to the vehicle to build a power system that runs by transmitting hydrogen energy to electricity via the fuel cell, according to Dr. Lai.

He also added, because the high efficiency of fuel cell as well as the clean energy of hydrogen, only water moisture is exhausted to the atmosphere, and it is almost zero emission vehicle with a high performance.

This concept is similar to the Toyota FCV, the hydrogen is supplied from two high pressure (up to 300 bar) bottle with 6.8 liter fabricated by carbon fiber reinforced plastics with safety approval, and the bottle of FCV is even as high as 700 bar, Dr. Lai said.

As long as the storage pressure can be raised up to 700 bar in Taiwan, the range of “Pegasus One” can be further extended to 300 km, according to Dr. Lai.