In the car sales market, GM and Honda are undoubtedly a pair of fierce rivals. Recently, however, the two automakers have decided to cooperate in mass production of fuel cells to reduce the cost of application and increase the efficiency of such new energy power systems.
General Motors and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced on Monday (January 31) the establishment of the industry's first joint venture to put hydrogen fuel cell systems into mass production, providing advanced fuel cell systems for the future of the two companies.
The newly formed joint venture, Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC, will operate at GM's battery assembly facility in Brownstown, south of Detroit, Michigan, and is expected to add nearly 100 new units. Jobs.
In the management of joint ventures, the two sides will send three senior executives to form the board of directors of the company and implement the rotating chairman system. In addition, the two sides will alternately appoint executives to serve as president of the joint venture.
General Motors confirmed that the partners will share an initial cost of $85 million (approximately RMB 584 million). According to the plan, the new company will be mass-produced around 2020, and the resulting fuel cells will be widely used in new models of the two partners.
Such equipment will absorb the hydrogen in the storage container and the oxygen in the air, which in turn triggers a chemical reaction to generate electricity, which ultimately drives the car, so the vehicle with the fuel cell does not need to consume fuel. A fuel cell is a highly clean energy source that does not produce pollutants during energy conversion. The only emission produced is water vapor, and the energy source of the fuel cell is extracted from renewable resources such as wind energy and biological materials. hydrogen.
The history of GM's first use of such technology dates back to 1966, when researchers used hydrogen to drive a GMC Handivan mini van. Currently, GM has accumulated millions of miles of actual road mileage for fuel cell vehicles.
Since July 2013, the company has been working with Honda to develop a new generation of fuel cell systems and hydrogen storage technology. Under the agreement, the two companies have achieved a more cost-effective business solution by integrating R&D teams and sharing the intellectual property of hydrogen fuel cells.
“In the past three years, engineers from Honda and General Motors have worked together to leverage their expertise to create a low-cost, compact next-generation fuel cell system.†Honda’s North America Chief Operating Officer and President of Honda North America According to Toshiaki Mikoshiba, "based on outstanding teamwork, we will put fuel cell systems into mass production and create new value for our consumers in the future of fuel cell vehicles."
GM and Honda are the leaders in fuel cell technology. The US Clean Energy Growth Index shows that the two companies received more than 2,220 patents related to fuel cell technology between 2002 and 2015. According to the number of patents, GM and Honda are ranked first and third respectively.
As the sales of electric vehicles continue to increase, the mass production plan of fuel cells has become a very wise investment for GM and Honda. There is growing evidence that today's automotive industry is gradually losing its dependence on fossil fuels. But for fuel cell vehicles to really get on the road, there is still a need to provide more fuel-filled sites. This reality has led to a sharp increase in the risk of such investments.
“I think the future of fuel cell models is impressive, but there are several conditions,†said Eric Wachsman, head of the University of Maryland's Energy Research Center. “There must be enough fuel on the road first. The battery car is driving so that people can invest in infrastructure, but it requires a lot of people to buy such vehicles.†Watzman believes that this has fallen into a “chicken†There is still a cycle of eggs first.
The high construction costs of hydrogen fuel infrastructure have made the prospects of this technology somewhat ambiguous. For example, in a project in California to promote fuel cell technology, the average average cost of a local 28 hydrogen fuel supply station is $1.93 million. This figure far exceeds the cost of installing charging piles for pure electric vehicles in public parking garages.
In addition to the challenge of building hydrogen fuel supply facilities, the difficulty of producing hydrogen from water or natural gas cannot be ignored. This also led Tesla founder Elon Musk to exclude the option of hydrogen fuel cars, he even called it "stupid battery car." These obstacles also explain why the so-called "hydrogen economy" did not form in the first decade of the actual decade.
There is no doubt that such challenges will continue. Researchers from Stanford University and the University of Technology in Munich analyzed the cost of the Los Alatus hydrogen energy generation project in California in a November 2016 study, which is expected to be between 2025 and 2035. Provide energy for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
The researchers said in the conclusion that although pure electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can moderately reduce the overall carbon dioxide emissions of the community, the latter is more expensive, mainly because of the high cost of hydrogen generating equipment. Therefore, pure electric vehicles are still a more cost-effective option in terms of curbing carbon dioxide emissions.
But for fuel cells, there are reasons for hope. In 2016, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has sold Clarity models for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Japan and the United States.
“The fuel cell car is not different from the traditional fuel car. It has a smooth and powerful power and has excellent low-speed torque. It is very quiet even at high speeds.†Carl Brauer, executive publisher of the Kelly Blue Book. Evaluation.
More importantly, the model has a cruising range of 589 kilometers, which exceeds the single-charge cruising range of the Chevrolet pure electric car Bolt 456 kilometers.
This relatively long cruising range means that not every gas station in the future must be equipped with hydrogen replenishment equipment. In fact, a 2013 study in the United States showed that in California, with a total area of ​​about 424,000 square kilometers, only 68 “reasonable hydrogen fuel supply stations†would be needed to ensure local people’s use of such technologies. enthusiasm. In contrast, California is close to China's Gansu Province, which has a total area of ​​about 394,000 square kilometers and ranks eighth among the land areas of China's provinces.
Fuel cell vehicles also have other advantages. For example, a fuel storage container can be filled in 5 minutes, while a pure electric vehicle usually takes about 5 hours to fully charge. This will be a good reason to buy for consumers.
In this cooperation, Honda seems to be more concerned about the relevant results, and they therefore chose to set the headquarters of the fuel cell system manufacturing company in the United States. "Honda firmly believes that the United States will be the world's largest fuel cell vehicle market," said Jessica Paul, spokesman of the company. "We believe that fuel cells will be the core technology for clean energy vehicles in the future. And whether we can create such a market, It depends on the construction of the hydrogen generating facilities, and we will continue to work hard."
But GM's attitude is more cautious. "GM has not announced any fuel cell-related passenger car projects," GM spokesman Alan Adler said. "We are currently focusing on the military and aerospace applications of this technology."
Although each of these companies has a different purpose, Dr. Wattsman of the University of Maryland said that the cooperation between the two will help solve some of the problems of large-scale hydrogen production. For example, how to generate hydrogen more efficiently, how to transport it safer, and install hydrogen fuel supply equipment in gas stations.
Holtzman added that for GM and Honda to achieve success in fuel cell applications, it is particularly important to establish a joint venture. “Because they not only develop hydrogen fuel cells, but also containers for storing hydrogen and a complete set of infrastructure systems for daily replenishment.â€
Carl Braul believes that the cooperation between GM and Honda can accelerate the process of hydrogen fuel cells becoming a mass clean energy. “Before this, the application cost of fuel cells was extremely expensive, far beyond the affordability of any one consumer.â€
These views just confirm the expectations of the two automakers for this cooperation. Mark Reuss, executive vice president of global product development, procurement and supply chain at GM, believes the move can reduce development and manufacturing costs with economies of scale and joint procurement.
“With a new generation of fuel cell systems, GM and Honda have taken a big step forward in developing low-cost, high-capacity fuel cell systems. The use of precious metals has been greatly reduced, and cross-departmental teamwork has resulted in design and manufacturing processes. Optimization, scale effect reduces costs,†explains Charlie Freese, executive director of GM's global fuel cell business. On the other hand, the two companies will continue to work with the government and other interested parties to promote the construction of fuel supply facilities to increase consumer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles.
Takashi Sekiguchi, general manager and chief operating officer of Honda's automotive business, said that the company's experience in developing the first generation of Clarity fuel cell vehicles will be applied to a new generation of fuel cell systems jointly developed with GM.
"Our cooperation has created a good opportunity for both parties to further develop their respective advantages and realize the widespread application of fuel cell vehicles as soon as possible," he said.
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