Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

Each day future of mobility looks less and less like the automobile – old concept of moving a few tons of steel to carry one or two people is far from optimal, and in the age of global warming, eco-friendly transportation is becoming hot topic. Analytics already voiced expectations that market for short-distance, one and two person transport vehicles will emerge very soon (by 2009), and we speculate that first design units to accommodate this new market, are being developed today under electric wheelchair tag…

Recently we saw plethora of electric wheelchairs with a fuel cell unit, and here we are reviewing five of them… The most coverage definitely got Suzuki's MIO concept, which was based on Suzuki's previous electric wheelchair "Senior Car" operable with a handlebar, but is now a motor driven wheelchair that runs on electricity produced by fuel cell unit. MIO is told to be user-friendly and also boasts a longer travel range compared to existing electric wheelchairs with a lead-acid battery. MIO's fuel cell unit employs a direct methanol that directly supplies methanol to the cell for hydrogen reaction along with a large-capacity Li-ion secondary battery. The hybrid wheelchair can run 40 km (25 miles) or more with one recharge of methanol (4 liters), and allows easier handling because there is no need to recharge from the mains power source as with electric wheelchairs, and at the same time offers user more information thru LCD display with information on remaining fuel, power generation state… Details on the fuel cell unit and the Li-ion secondary battery were detained, as Suzuki marked MIO as a prototype. This could mean that MIO still has many problems or that Suzuki needs time to iron out the product. The modern design of MIO features armrests that double up as safety barriers, ergonomic handlebars that require minimal effort even on full lock, and a seat that features a mesh-type fabric for good aeration and improved springing. Its compact dimensions – 1.2 x 0.65 x 1.0 meters also mean it’s nimble in the crowded urban environment. More info: Suzuki web site.

Kurimoto's fuel cell electric wheelchair offers 14-hours of driving time

At the end of 2006 Kurimoto Ltd., a major Japanese machinery manufacturer, achieved a breakthrough of 10 hours of continuous running time for its fuel-cell powered wheelchair in co-development with Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies. The company has since been running tweaks and tests for its safety and durability, and monitoring feedback from users who participated in trials. The fuel cell electric wheelchair, which has no official or exposed development name as of yet, runs two to three times longer than conventional wheelchairs powered by rechargeable batteries, that have running times of three to five hours. The new wheelchair is also believed to greatly expand the range and mobility of wheelchair users.

We just heard that demonstration tests are running smoothly in collaboration with Vocational Training Center for the Handicapped in Osaka, Japan. The company plans to make several improvements based on data from the tests, and current continuous running time is close to 14 hours as of July 2007. At the end of fiscal year 2007 (October 2007) company will start leasing fuel cell wheelchairs to municipalities, and might even consider making them available for rental to the public in 2008.

The greatest challenge for new fuel cell wheelchair is high production costs, as current retail price would be several million yen (approx $20.000-$25.000). Kurimoto says that it is confident it will be able to solve other problems such as heavy weight of hydrogen fuel cylinders and transportation of hydrogen and is expected to start developing a more affordable model with fuel cell parts currently under development, which will be aiming towards commercialization in late 2008. More info: Kurimoto web site.

IPRO 304 Fall - hybrid fuel cell people transporter

IPRO consist of expert on various fields, from fuel cell, hybrid, design, battery and business. The goal of the group is to build an electric people transporter (i.e. wheel chairs, scooters, golf carts, etc.), which will overcome the problems of conventional rechargeable lead-acid battery powered vehicles. Reliability and technology concerns are utter most important. Every year the team builds a prototype, extending the previous year's in longer range (e.g. mileage), with the same power system without the need to recharge or refuel. The new design should also enable the power system to deliver instantaneous power for sudden acceleration and for additional power needed for vehicle auxiliaries.

IPRO are addressing these challenges by utilizing a hybrid system combining air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and a Li-ion battery with a novel thermal management system using phase change material (PCM), bound together with a smart control system. The battery system will provide the required power during periods of peak demand, for example when starting-up, acceleration, and with sudden load changes. When travel speed will be constant, the fuel cell will take over and provide the power for traveling. The smart control system will be used to handle all the power managements under different load conditions and environmental changes. Team IPRO will not comment on price or delivery time line for its new prototype or production candidate. More info: IPRO web site.

Other prototypes and concepts…

In addition to these three wheelchair based personal transporters, we saw interesting development from the automotive industry as well. First there was a lot of fuss between Honda and Swedish designer Tommy Forsgren and his Hermes concept, then Peugeot showed not only concept but, fully working prototype of its all terrain four wheel fuel cell personal transporter named Quark… Both vehicles could be easily converted into transport for disabled, and therefore we mention them in more detail:

Hermes

A three wheel self balancing concept manoeuvred by intuitive steering that redefines the sensation of single person transport - was designed by Swedish designer Tommy Forsgren. He sees the rider positioned face down and head first supported by the chest on a "seat" atop the vehicle's frame. As speed increases the rider is shifted to a more horizontal posture and cornering is achieved intuitively, leaning left or right with knuckles outstretched over the road. Forsgren points to this and other examples of bleeding-edge design as inspiration for his work in this case in Segway - the dynamic motion through acceleration and turns is powered by a hydraulic system linked to a CPU. Hermes is totally driven by a hydrogen fuel cell located underneath the rider in the cetral part of the structure. The unit draws hyrdogen from on-board tank and air from intake on the frame. The tank is positioned in the safest possible place and is secured by framework the under rider. It's also easy to reach for straightforward re-fueling. Unfortunately talks with Honda for producing it did not finish positive, so production is in the air… More info: Tommy Forsgren web site.

Peugeot's futuristic two-seater, 4WD Quark

Quark was built to showcase the company's fuel cell technology. Far more than just a show floor dummy, the Quark competed successfully at the recent Michelin Bibendum Challenge. Quark uses a 9-litre hydrogen tank at a pressure of 700 bars, this makes it possible to increase the quantity of on-board hydrogen and thereby extend the vehicle's range, which in one cycle is around 100 km (or up to 130 km in economy mode).The fuel cell of the Quark is not water-cooled, but air-cooled. This avoids the need for a bulky water-cooling system and removes one of the major constraints of the fuel cell: the incompatibility between pure water/negative ambient temperatures.  Due to the fitment of four individual motors, the vehicle has permanent four-wheel drive. Quark's power train is innovative as electrical power supplied by the batteries and the fuel cell is transmitted to four individual electric motors located in each of the vehicle's wheels. Each motor provides a maximum torque of 100 Nm, a continuous output of 2.5 kW and a maximum output of 7 kW. Quark has a maximum torque of 400 Nm, a nominal power of 10 kW and a maximum power of 28 kW. Quark was shown in Paris Motor Show in its full glory. Further details on pricing and availability were not given. More info: Peugeot.

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