Yamaha brings its prototype for a hydrogen-powered heat engine to the Genoa Boat Show.
It is built on the block of the 400-hp XTO V8, a direct-injection engine that sends hydrogen directly into the combustion chamber.
Yamaha. How the hydrogen outboard works
The goal?
Eliminate emissions.
Hydrogen, having no carbon atoms, gives as emissions practically only water vapor.
So the engine remains the usual one, to which is changed the injection system and of course the electronic management, developed in collaboration with Toyota and Denso.
In this way, the propulsion apparatus becomes much simpler (and cheaper) than fuel cells, which also require a buffer battery and electric motor. Watch the video:
Is it already available?
There are no details on fuel consumption and range, as the tests mostly focused on understanding how the engine copes with the mechanical stresses given by the new power supply.
In addition, the craft on which it is embarked needs interior volumes designed to accommodate very bulky cylinders.
This limits the possible retrofit on vessels not designed for this type of power supply.
The big question mark over the future of hydrogen, however, remains its distribution and production.
Too limited the former and poor (if done without using fossil fuels) the latter.
But this, certainly, is something that is not up to Yamaha.
