Written by Ma Xiaolei
Editor / Zhou Zhou
Design / Ju Jia
来源 / Autonews,作者:LINDSAY VANHULLE
Detroit, on January 25, local time, Honda and GM's hydrogen fuel cell plants were officially put into operation, marking a substantial step towards the large-scale commercialization of hydrogen energy by the two companies.
The fuel cell system manufacturing companies of both companies have been brewing for many years and have finally seized this excellent opportunity to put into production. At this time, hydrogen energy in the United States has received great attention and policy support as a promising means to achieve decarbonization goals.
In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $7 billion investment to support the initial hydrogen economy, which could bring about changes in the hydrogen sector, providing a certain degree of certainty to the market and giving companies enough support to advance hydrogen-related plans.
In 2013, Honda and GM entered into a partnership to establish a fuel cell system manufacturing company (FCSM) with a joint investment of USD 85 million. Located in the town of Brownstown, about 20 miles south of Detroit, the 70,000-square-foot joint venture plant produces fuel cells and modules.
Pictured: A fuel cell system manufacturing plant in a suburb of Detroit in November 2023. FCSM is a fuel cell joint venture between General Motors and Honda Motors.
Although the two companies are working together to produce fuel cells, the main "destinations" that the two companies have planned for are very different.
GM's plan is to replace conventional diesel engines with hydrogen fuel cells, focusing on heavy-duty vehicles such as heavy-duty trucks and construction vehicles.
Charlie Freese, a former global diesel engineer at General Motors, now runs the automaker's hydrogen fuel cell business, Hydrotec, after years of working with diesel engines. "Ironically, I'm in the business to replace diesel engines. He said.
In addition to construction vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, and stationary energy storage equipment, Honda envisions the application of fuel cells to passenger cars.
The fuel cell version of the company's best-selling CR-V compact crossover is scheduled to be produced at Honda's high-performance manufacturing center in Ohio in 2024, targeting California.
Jay Joseph, vice president of sustainability and business development at Honda Motor Company, said, "It's important to put fuel cells in our best-selling models. The CR-V is our best-selling model, and it's designed to fit perfectly into different powertrains. ”
It is also reasonable that the two sides have different uses.
While GM and Honda are partners, they are rivals in the automotive industry, competing in many of the same segments. The use of fuel cells in passenger cars is one way Honda differentiates its products.
The joint venture is expected to create 80 jobs. Suheb Haq, President of FCSM, said: "Our joint venture's mission is to establish world-class, affordable large-scale production of hydrogen fuel cells for a variety of applications in GM and Honda's business. ”
Honda and GM's hydrogen fuel cells come at a time when extreme cold weather is occurring in parts of the U.S., and the limitations of electric vehicles are once again being revealed. Because of its high energy density and rapid energy replenishment, hydrogen fuel cells can avoid some of the shortcomings of electric vehicles.
Compared to battery technology, hydrogen energy technology is in its infancy, but it is gaining momentum.
At CES 2024, Hyundai detailed its long-term hydrogen roadmap. At the annual technology showcase in Las Vegas, Hyundai unveiled plans related to hydrogen along with companies such as Bosch, Nikola, Forvia, Paccar and others.
Paul Waatti, industry analysis manager at research and consulting firm AutoPacific, said: "The GM-Honda joint venture is a smart choice to accelerate fuel cell development. If they each work on fuel cell projects independently, we may not see the first large-scale production facility to produce a viable fuel cell system for consumer and commercial use at this stage. ”
According to JV executives, the fuel cell system will improve performance and durability and reduce costs, reducing the cost of the system produced at the JV plant by about one-third compared to the system used in Honda's Clarity fuel cell vehicle in 2019.
"Fuel cells can already replace the century-old technology of diesel engines," said GM's Freis. "GM has signed several partners to apply its hydrogen fuel cell systems to mining trucks, cement mixers, and more.
Industry analysts generally agree that medium- and heavy-duty trucks will be the first practical application of fuel cells in transportation. But like Honda, competitors such as Hyundai, BMW, and Toyota are also bullish on fuel cell applications in passenger cars.
Honda is also deploying fuel cell trucks. It will test fuel cell heavy-duty trucks jointly developed with Isuzu on public roads in Japan, and is expected to launch a production model for the Japanese market in 2027.
For Honda, production at the Brownstown plant is just one part of the company's hydrogen strategy. By 2030, the company plans to produce about 60,000 fuel cell systems per year worldwide.
Honda expects to supply Honda with about 2,000 systems per year at its Brownstown plant by 2025. "It's most valuable to bring a product to market and learn from real-world experience," Joseph said. The larger the scale, the more lessons can be learned. ”