staff@slashgear.com (Danny Bojic)
2024-05-23 10:15:54
www.slashgear.com
Hydrogen engines produce zero carbon dioxide while maintaining an internal combustion engine and quick refueling, so it’s easy to see why Yamaha Motor sees them as the key to achieving carbon neutrality. To do so, they’re doing more than just developing hydrogen engines for cars.
In 2024, Yamaha Motor announced that the Yamaha Golf-Car Company (YGC) created a new hydrogen-powered golf cart engine concept. The subsidiary unveiled the Drive H2, a first-of-its-kind golf cart powered by a 100% hydrogen engine. It’s a four-seater equipped with two 25-liter hydrogen tanks, one under the driver’s seat and another behind the rear seat. The Drive H2 is still in the concept stage as of this writing. YGC continues developing hydrogen technology, with plans to sell the golf cart primarily in the United States and worldwide.
Another Yamaha announcement in early 2024 was the world’s first hydrogen-powered outboard engine for recreational boats. Yamaha showcased the prototype and fuel system at the year’s Miami International Boat Show, announcing collaborations with Roush Performance and Regulator Marine to build and test the prototype that summer. Like the Drive H2, Yamaha didn’t reveal the performance specifications for the hydrogen-powered outboard but sees it as the future for the marine environment, a space in which Yamaha wants to be the leader.