As the development of the automobile industry has entered the "fast lane" of new energy, hydrogen energy vehicles have also started the demonstration operation of small batches. At the previous Beijing Auto Show, Dongfeng Motor brought the "Dongfeng Hydrogen Boat" hydrogen power platform to the Beijing Auto Show. "I think this platform is by far the most economical, and it is the best solution choice from both the OEM side and the customer use side." Li Hongtao, director of hydrogen energy research and development, said to Feiling Automobile.
As one of the earliest OEMs in China to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Dongfeng Motor began to explore the feasibility of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as early as the Ninth Five-Year Plan. In 2018, Dongfeng Motor led 15 domestic units to successfully apply for the national key R&D plan to develop the first full-power fuel cell vehicle in China, Dongfeng Hydrogen Boat e. H2。
In April last year, during the "Science and Technology Innovation Week", Dongfeng Company released the main brand of hydrogen energy "Dongfeng Hydrogen Boat" and two sub-brands of "Dongfeng Hydrogen Yuan" and "Dongfeng Hydrogen Core" to provide customers with full-stack solutions for hydrogen vehicles. Among them, Dongfeng Hydrogen Boat is driven by application scenarios, and lays out three hydrogen power platform products of 70kW, 150kW and 350kW, with a power covering 20kW-350kW. Among them, 350kW is the leading high-power platform in China, which can meet the needs of a full range of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, and achieve full power, all vehicles, all scenarios, and full coverage.
According to Li Hongtao, the Dongfeng hydrogen boat platform displayed at the Beijing Auto Show is equipped with a 130kW fuel cell system, with a peak power of 150kW and a maximum horsepower of more than 200; Using 70Mpa hydrogen storage, the passenger car can achieve a driving range of 750 kilometers.
"Hydrogen refueling itself is very fast, hydrogen refueling at the hydrogen refueling station is as convenient as refueling, like this car can be refueled in 3~5 minutes." Li Hongtao said. Li Hongtao believes that compared with electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel vehicles have the characteristics of high efficiency, cleanliness and strong environmental adaptability. Taking the hydrogen boat platform as an example, it has a wide temperature range and can work at an ambient temperature of minus 40°C-60°C.
Not only that, the hydrogen storage system is lighter than the power battery pack when storing the same amount of energy. Because hydrogen is currently stored in gaseous state, the materials of hydrogen storage bottles are mainly plastics and carbon fibers, and the supporting structure of the hydrogen storage system is in the form of metal frames. According to Li Hongtao, Dongfeng Group is also developing on-board hydrogen storage modular technology, which greatly reduces the number of components through one valve with multiple controls and integrated innovation, and increases hydrogen storage capacity while achieving lightweight and reducing costs.
In addition, Li Hongtao added that due to the relatively thin air in the plateau area, it will have a certain impact on the performance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but the lack of oxygen supply can be eliminated by increasing the intake pressure of the compressor.
In electric vehicles, battery safety is one of the most important concerns for users. Put it on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, it is the safety of on-board hydrogen storage tanks. Li Hongtao introduced that the on-board hydrogen storage tank itself has undergone very strict safety tests, including drops, collisions, fires, gunshots, vibrations and other tests.
Li Hongtao said that hydrogen is the smallest molecule, and there will definitely be leaks, but the amount of leakage is far from the dangerous limit. "There are about 18,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in China now, and there has not been an explosion due to hydrogen leakage, as long as it is used within its specifications, it is very safe." Li Hongtao said.
In the mass production and application of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the primary problem in front of ordinary users is cost. For example, Changan's Deep Blue Automobile has launched a hydrogen-fueled version of the SL03 in 2022, with a price of up to 699,900 yuan. Therefore, at this stage, hydrogen fuel cells are more used in commercial vehicles.
In addition to the high cost of vehicle purchase, the large-scale application of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles also faces challenges such as insufficient infrastructure and high hydrogen refueling costs. This is the same situation that electric vehicles have just begun to land, and now public and home charging is everywhere, and the problem of electric vehicle energy replenishment has been effectively improved.
In addition, the price of hydrogen is now gradually decreasing, and many companies already have the ability to produce hydrogen from electrolyzers. Li Hongtao believes that low-cost hydrogen production requires the joint efforts of the entire industry chain, and with the increase in investment in the field of hydrogen fuel cells, the price of hydrogen will continue to fall. "If the cost is reduced and hydrogen refueling stations become popular, passenger cars will have an advantage in terms of scale." Li Hongtao said.
As a pioneer of hydrogen fuel vehicles, China's first full-power fuel cell passenger vehicle "Dongfeng Hydrogen Boat" has been delivered to Foshan City, Guangdong Province for demonstration operation; Venucia's first hydrogen fuel cell model, "Venucia Big V Hydrogen Realm", has been launched, and it is the first to start commercial demonstration operation in Huadu District, Guangzhou. In addition, it should be pointed out that the dark blue SL03 hydrogen-electric version mentioned above is not a full-power hydrogen fuel model, but plug-in + hydrogen energy. In addition, Dongfeng Motor is also developing a hydrogen version of the VOYAH Dreamer.
In terms of fuel cell commercial vehicles, Dongfeng Motor has developed a series of models ranging from 4.5 tons to 49 tons. It is understood that Dongfeng hydrogen boat platform technology has been applied in batches of Dongfeng's fuel cell commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, with cumulative sales of more than 4,800 vehicles, accounting for more than 26% of the domestic total.
"At this stage, the primary task is to do a good job in the technical research of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, reduce the cost, and improve the performance; Then expand the application field, such as promoting the application in forklifts, ships, etc.; Personally, I think it is to be implemented in stages, and then the next step is the industrial chain ecology, to build a good application ecology, and all links to form a business closed loop. Li Hongtao said that Dongfeng is tackling the application of hydrogen energy technology at the vehicle end, and will work with upstream and downstream enterprises to build an industrial chain ecology in the future.