Last News
Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha have announced that they have received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to form a technology research association called HySE (Hydrogen Small Mobility & Engine Technology) to develop hydrogen powered engines for small vehicles.
Kenji Komatsu, President Designate of HySE and CEO of Yamaha Motor Co. Technical Research and Development Center said. Ltd.: “We are very happy to announce the formation of this association. There are many challenges in developing hydrogen-powered engines, but we look forward to seeing the association’s activities in conducting basic research to address these challenges. We are committed to this effort, with a mission to preserve the use of internal combustion engines, reflecting the long-term efforts created by our predecessors.”
It is important to clarify that the use of hydrogen presents various technical challenges. One of them has to do with combustion control, which suffers from instability due to very rapid ignition and is difficult to focus on a single point. There is also the limited capacity of the hydrogen tanks.
HySE members must accept these and other challenges, which will carry out important research on the subject in order to later achieve a design standard for small hydrogen engines, which could be incorporated into different types of vehicles. Not for nothing, all the partners belonging to this “series” are motorcycle manufacturers.
450 Hp V8 engine powered by hydrogen, created in 2022 by Yamaha and Kawasaki.
Areas of research and development, and the role of each company in HySE:
- Research on model-based development of hydrogen powered engines (Honda).
- A study of aspects of the functionality, performance and reliability of hydrogen powered engines (Suzuki).
- Practical research using real hydrogen powered engines on their functionality, performance and reliability (Yamaha, Kawasaki).
- Study of the requirements for a hydrogen refueling system, as well as small hydrogen tanks for mobility (Yamaha).
- Study of the auxiliary equipment for feeding system and fuel tanks, and equipment installed between the fuel tank and the injector (Kawasaki).
In addition to the four motorcycle manufacturers mentioned above, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Toyota Motor Corporation support the association as special members.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, being one of the main organizers of the “Research Society for CO2 Hydrogen Power Supply Chain Technologies” (HySTRA) HySE activities based on the knowledge gained from their work for HySTRA.
Toyota, on the other hand, will take its role in making the most of HySE’s research results in developing hydrogen-powered engines, using its knowledge in experiments, analysis and large-scale design. hydrogen fueled power units for four wheels.