World’s First Hydrogen Bike

A French bicycle manufacture recently unveiled their Alpha Bike, the first commercial electrically-assisted bike to be powered by hydrogen. With a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles) it boasts a longer battery life than traditional electric bikes, but the real benefit is in the time it takes to charge. The hydrogen cells can be recharged at special hydrogen stations in about five minutes, compared to three or four hours for other types of electric bike batteries. And Alpha Bike is virtually carbon neutral with the only emissions being pure water. Even the charging stations are run by solar and/or wind power.

Alpha Bikes will be officially released for sale to the public later this year, however the French postal service has reportedly expressed an interest in ordering an entire fleet. The company plans to build 100 bikes in 2016 and will be ramping up production to 1,000 in 2017. The price will be comparable to currently available, high-end electric bikes at around €2,300 ($2,500US).