Do you regularly cycle around London? If you do then part of your reason for choosing a two-wheeled method of transportation may very well have something to do with the environment.
Good for you...but don't you wish that sometimes your trusty pedal-powered steed had a little more oomph? Just a little bit of something which would stop motorists treating you as a second class citizen?
Say hello to the Emissions Neutral Vehicle, (ENV for short) a motorcycle that runs on compressed hydrogen gas...and looks very cool indeed.
As the journalist from Motoring.co.za puts it
The ENV looks like one of the speeder bikes ridden by Darth Vader's Imperial scouts in "Return of the Jedi" and its smooth power delivery makes it seem to glide rather than roll.
But here's the crucial bit: "This machine will not be pushed into the gutter by inconsiderate car drivers."
The ENV reaches speeds of 80km/h, emits a "low-intensity hum", looks like a mountain bike, rides like a motorcycle and "manoeuvres with feline agility".
We are big fans of feline agility here at Londonist.
And, of course, the whole thing works by "converting hydrogen and oxygen into water and electricity. The only emission from the exhaust is a gentle flow of water vapour from twin cathode exhausts."
Expect to see hundreds of these things on the roads of London in the next five years.
And in the meantime, Londonist would just like to go on record as saying that we are very keen cyclists, and as such we feel we would make the perfect test riders for such an important technological development such as this.
