It might seem curious to find Yamaha Marine exhibiting its H2 hydrogen concept at an automotive trade show, but the outboard manufacturer has an alternative fuels ally in the Specialty Equipment Market Association.
Yamaha and its partners, Regulator Marine and Roush, exhibited the H2 hydrogen-powered propulsion concept in the FutureTech Studio section of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas from Nov. 4-8. FutureTech Studio occupied 22,000-plus square feet in the Las Vegas Convention Center with more than 50 exhibits highlighting the growing impact of modern propulsion systems, including electric vehicles and alternative fuels, on the automotive industry and its consumers.
Yamaha Motors is a member of SEMA, which represents car manufacturers, automotive component suppliers and aftermarket equipment manufacturers. The annual SEMA Show is reportedly the largest exhibition to hit Las Vegas, this year attracting 2,400 exhibitors and more than 160,000 attendees from 140 countries, covering 1.2 million net square feet of indoor space with more exhibits outdoors. The show attracts retail buyers and those working in automotive trades who want to see new products and technologies — everything from the latest in paint booths and tire-changing tools to performance and racing equipment, electronics and EV components, plus a fascinating array of custom cars and trucks.
Promoting Multiple Solutions
In the FutureTech Studio, Yamaha displayed the same cutaway Regulator 26XO and Yamaha XTO Offshore outboard — each modified to accommodate a hydrogen power system developed by Roush — that debuted as the H2 concept at the Miami International Boat Show in February 2024.
Representing Yamaha at the SEMA show were Grant Suzuki, chief of technology, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit; Martin Peters, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit director of external affairs; and Kassidy Peterson, advanced development engineer and a recent MIT engineering graduate now stationed at the Yamaha Marine Innovation Center in Kennesaw, Ga., where she is part of the H2 concept development team. The Yamaha team was supported by Matt Van Benschoten, vice president, advanced engineering, Roush, and by Don Seal, manufacturing engineer, Regulator Marine.
On Nov. 4, Peters moderated an hour-long “fireside chat” with Suzuki, Van Benschoten and Seal on the FutureTech Studio stage.
An audience of about 50 people listened and learned about some of the technical challenges presented by the H2 concept, and its advantages.
“Yamaha and SEMA share a belief that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for carbon-neutral products, and hydrogen is a formidable contender for the future of cleaner internal combustion engines,” Suzuki said. “Internal combustion will continue to be a necessary component in recreational boating. We’re also advocating publicly for sustainable fuels, hydrogen and other technologies we can deploy to continue to meet customer expectations.”
Seal said that from his perspective at Regulator, the H2 concept does not present a significant manufacturing challenge. “To put H2 into production, we’d need to design a new stringer structure to accept the hydrogen tanks and modify the deck,” he said, “but those tanks are the only real difference between this concept and our current boat. We would have no problem integrating the H2 system on our assembly system.”
An exhibit by Chevron directly adjacent to Yamaha in the FutureTech Studio featured a renewable gasoline blend, a drop-in fuel containing more than 50% renewable content that is being tested by Toyota, and its hydrogen fuel delivery station.
“Hydrogen is a lower-carbon solution that is particularly effective where direct electrification is not feasible,” according to Chevron. “Given the properties of current battery technologies, creating electric power is challenging in industries such as aviation, marine and heavy-duty, long-haul freight.”
Banning the ICE Ban
In an interview with Soundings Trade Only, Peters noted the historic synergies between automotive and marine power technology, and its regulation. “Technology in the automotive industry in some ways inspires, or is reflective, in the technology of the marine industry. Concerning hydrogen, there is some parallel development going on in the automotive industry,” he said.
“Yamaha also wants to build a coalition to support sustainable fuel, including hydrogen, and SEMA has been proactive in developing legislative strategies at both the state and federal levels that will help us drive forward legislation, and also the sensibility, that we need to have multiple technologies, not a single technology, in our pursuit of carbon neutrality,” Peters added.
As a part of the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, the state of California has a mandate in place requiring all new passenger cars, trucks and SUVs sold within the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. To date, 16 states have followed suit, declaring cessation of internal combustion engine car sales by the end of 2035.
Yamaha has joined SEMA in an effort Peters calls “ban the ban” to blunt the momentum of EVs as the single solution to achieving vehicle carbon neutrality. “The SEMA legislative staff in Washington has created model legislation that we would like to introduce at every state legislature that would prevent the state from adopting the policy that EV is the only acceptable solution for carbon reduction,” Peters said. “[SEMA] is also working to support regulatory actions that will help bring sustainable fuels to the market.”
SEMA has been supporting tech-neutral solutions for two years, according to Karen Bailey-Chapman, SEMA senior vice president, public and government affairs. “There are 16 states that follow California Air Resources Board standards,” Bailey-Chapman said. “Often, that policy leaves technology other than EV, such as hydrogen internal combustion or fuel cells, out of the conversation. Our model legislation would prevent other states from adopting this policy, and it has already been adopted as policy or legislation in nine states. We are not against EV, but we are advocating for tech-neutral policies that let the market decide the best path forward. We need to pull all the levers we can to get to zero emissions.”
Bailey-Chapman says the nine states that have adopted SEMA’s model legislation are Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. She adds that, with the encouragement of SEMA, Virginia has “decoupled” from CARB policy. According to Bailey-Chapman, Yamaha is the only marine engine manufacturer that has joined SEMA or is involved in its “ban the ban” effort.
In early October, SEMA and The Work Truck Association filed suit in the U.S. District Court against CARB, seeking immediate declaratory and injunctive relief to stop electric vehicle mandates CARB intends to implement through its Advanced Clean Fleets regulations. In a media release, they stated: “By declaring one technology as the preferred solution of government, California is kneecapping other potential solutions, regardless of their promise for delivering the results the state seeks.”
Current CARB emissions regulations already prevent the sale in California of some marine engines produced by Yamaha and BRP. As of Jan. 1, 2024, homeowners and landscaping professionals no longer can purchase gas-powered lawn and garden equipment from California retailers. This category consists of off-road spark-ignition engines that produce 19 kW of gross power or less (25 hp or less), including lawn and garden, industrial, logging, airport ground support, commercial utility equipment, golf carts and specialty vehicles.
“I’m concerned that down the road, CARB may ban all ICE under 50 horsepower, and include marine engines,” Peters said, noting that Yamaha is also developing a hydrogen-powered golf cart. Yamaha is clearly preparing for a future in which multiple carbon-reducing power options are available to boaters, from sustainable drop-in fuels to hydrogen internal combustion to electric through its acquisition of Torqeedo.
In Japan, Yamaha Motors joined with Kawasaki Motors, Suzuki Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. to form a technological research association called HySE, which stands for Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology. It involves developing hydrogen-powered engines for motorbikes and mini-cars (Kei cars in Japan), as well as engines for small boats, construction machinery and drones.
When announcing the creation of HySE, the four partners acknowledged that the “use of hydrogen poses technical challenges, including fast flame speed and a large region of ignition, which often result in unstable combustion, and the limited fuel tank capacity in case of use in small mobility vehicles. In addressing these issues, the members of HySE are committed to conducting fundamental research, capitalizing on their wealth of expertise and technologies in developing gasoline-powered engines, and aim to work together with the joint mission of establishing a design standard for small mobility’s hydrogen-powered engine, and of advancing the fundamental research endeavors in this area.”
Optimizing the Concept
Following the debut of the H2 concept last February, Yamaha stated that it would spend the coming boating season developing the system on the water at its test facility near Bridgeport, Ala., and at other locations. That testing is ongoing, according to Suzuki, using a functional Regulator 26XO fitted with the hydrogen system. He added that Yamaha has installed a hydrogen storage tank at the Bridgeport test site and secured a supply of hydrogen fuel.
When asked directly how the development was progressing, Peterson grinned and struggled to stifle her enthusiasm. Like any engineer, she’d love to tell you all about her project.
“We are past the stage of simply making the outboard fire up on hydrogen,” she said. “Now we are working to optimize its performance.”
Suzuki added: “This is not a simple challenge. We are really happy to identify new challenges through testing on the water. This is exactly what we want to happen.”
