Photo: Yamaha
I'm not sure how many of you know this, but among the many areas of interest for Japanese company Yamaha golf cars occupy a very special place. That's right, these guys don't only make motorcycles and outboard engines for the boating industry, but golf cars as well.
Handling this segment of the business is a company called Yamaha Golf-Car Company. IGC, for short, is an entity that sells golf cars in the United States, and it's quite good at it, too – if you're a golfer, chances are you rode in one of their vehicles at least once.
At the time of writing, the lineup of golf cars the company was selling comprised seven models divided into two families, Drive2 and Umax. It's the former that's of interest to us today, most specifically a model called Concierge 4, something that mostly sells in the United States.
The name is a reference to the number of people the car can carry, which is, naturally, four. It moves them about the golf course under the power provided by a 357cc single-cylinder engine rocking electronic fuel injection. The powerplant is capable enough to give the golf car a top speed of 19 mph (31 kph), more than enough for the purpose it needs to fulfil.
Small internal combustion engines are the favorite choice for this industry, and you'd think they're small enough for people to feel comfortable ignoring their impact on the environment. And that's partially true, as no major developments are announced by golf car makers, almost never.
But Yamaha surprised everyone this week after it brought with it at the PGA Show currently taking place in Florida something the world has never seen before: a hydrogen-powered golf car called Drive H2.
The contraption is based on the Drive2 Concierge 4, but instead of the regular ICE powerplant, it features a hydrogen one.
It's obvious there's something wrong about this one as soon as your eyes fall upon it. The rear section, as well as the area located under the driver's seat, have been adapted to hold a pair of large hydrogen tanks, each capable of holding 25 liters (6.6 gallons) of the stuff.
The company gives absolutely zero details about the actual capabilities of the system, and also makes no mention on whether it actually plans to ever produce the golf car in this configuration.
But the concept's unveiling is yet another proof of how determined Yamaha is to embrace cleaner technologies. After all, we're also promised hydrogen-powered generators and remotely operated vehicles.
There is however one question that bugs me about all of this: why did Yamaha choose hydrogen over a battery-powered electric system? After all (to me, at least) golf cars seem like the perfect vehicles for such powertrains.
At the time of writing, the lineup of golf cars the company was selling comprised seven models divided into two families, Drive2 and Umax. It's the former that's of interest to us today, most specifically a model called Concierge 4, something that mostly sells in the United States.
The name is a reference to the number of people the car can carry, which is, naturally, four. It moves them about the golf course under the power provided by a 357cc single-cylinder engine rocking electronic fuel injection. The powerplant is capable enough to give the golf car a top speed of 19 mph (31 kph), more than enough for the purpose it needs to fulfil.
Small internal combustion engines are the favorite choice for this industry, and you'd think they're small enough for people to feel comfortable ignoring their impact on the environment. And that's partially true, as no major developments are announced by golf car makers, almost never.
But Yamaha surprised everyone this week after it brought with it at the PGA Show currently taking place in Florida something the world has never seen before: a hydrogen-powered golf car called Drive H2.
The contraption is based on the Drive2 Concierge 4, but instead of the regular ICE powerplant, it features a hydrogen one.
It's obvious there's something wrong about this one as soon as your eyes fall upon it. The rear section, as well as the area located under the driver's seat, have been adapted to hold a pair of large hydrogen tanks, each capable of holding 25 liters (6.6 gallons) of the stuff.
The company gives absolutely zero details about the actual capabilities of the system, and also makes no mention on whether it actually plans to ever produce the golf car in this configuration.
But the concept's unveiling is yet another proof of how determined Yamaha is to embrace cleaner technologies. After all, we're also promised hydrogen-powered generators and remotely operated vehicles.
There is however one question that bugs me about all of this: why did Yamaha choose hydrogen over a battery-powered electric system? After all (to me, at least) golf cars seem like the perfect vehicles for such powertrains.
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