Stage 3. igus:bike meets hydrogen bicycle
Yuki Tsugehara | 3. April 2025
It is the third day of the igus:bike Tour in Japan. We are in the city of Kariya in Central Japan. This service area with its Ferris wheel is not just a rest point on the toll road, but a large leisure facility. It has many attractions and hot springs, and is accessible both from the toll road and the local road, a very unique system in Japan.
This city is known as the home of Toyota Motor Corporation, which boasts the world’s largest production volume and has a concentration of auto parts manufacturers. Today’s destination is one of the main players, Toyota Boshoku. We visited Kakegawa-san of the Unit Parts Business Strategy Planning Office.
Through Kakegawa-san’s introduction we learnt about the history of Toyota Boshoku and how they developed from a loom manufacturer to an automotive component manufacturer. We learnt that the founder’s philosophy, the “Toyota Code”, was behind the company’s significant development after overcoming the harsh conditions of the Second World War.
The team to which Kakegawa-san belongs is developing one of their innovative products, a hydrogen bicycle. This is an electric bicycle that uses a cylinder containing hydrogen adsorbed on metal as a battery, and has a very compact separator. The mechanism for extracting electricity from the hydrogen and transmitting it to the motor is contained within the bicycle.
When we introduced the igus:bike to the development team, they commented that they did not think it was possible to make so many parts out of plastic, and that it was much lighter than they had expected. Shigemori-san and the igus team also had the opportunity to test ride a hydrogen bicycle, and were amazed at the high degree of perfection that allows it to be ridden just like an ordinary electrically power assisted bicycle.
The highlight of the day was a ride in Kariya City with the hydrogen bicycle. A beautiful old Japanese garden-style bridge in the park welcomed the two bicycles. One bicycle is made of plastic and the other is driven by hydrogen. It was a memorable experience to ride together these bicycles that expand the possibilities of mobility.
We promised Toyota Boshoku that we would tour famous spots in Japan together. We may meet again in the future. We look forward to seeing you again in the future!
Our rider: Hiroshi Shigemori
Hi, I’m Shigemori. I am in charge of Automotive Sales. I am excited about this collaboration project with Toyota Boshoku. I used to ride a bicycle until about 10 years ago, but I have been away from it for a while and this time I trained for this ride.
Map of the tour
