Headline: Car companies Have Teamed Up to Manufacture New Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Author: Alex Bowser, Editor of Science and Technology

On January 27, companies General Motors (GM), Navistar, OneH2, and J.B. Hunt announced a partnership with the goal to create a “customer implementation of a zero-emission long-haul system,” according to Persio Lisboa, Navistar President, and CEO.

Their focus will be manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells that would be able to electrically power semi-trucks. “Hydrogen fuel cells offer great promise for heavy duty trucks in applications requiring a higher density of energy, fast refueling, and additional range,” said Lisboa.

GM has big plans for the fuel cells as well, stating that they will be utilized for a variety of heavy-duty uses such as locomotives, generators, and even powering submarines. They plan to use this as a cleaner alternative to diesel engines for trucks, advocating for its easy-access and transportability as well.

With this being the first step forward, the companies plan to complete a design and testing models at the end of 2022. Their current goal is to have a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) in production and commercially available in 2024. In order to be competitive, their FCEV design will have to compete with upwards of 500 miles in range and a fueling time of 15 minutes at most.

The main use of these new fuel cells will, for now, primarily be to manufacture FCEV semi-trucks. In exchange for GM’s fuel cell technology, Navistar will turn their tech into a design for its zero-emissions semi-truck, in which J.B. Hunt will assist in piloting, and OneH2 will supply its hydrogen fueling solution.

Currently, the design of these semis consists of two “hydraulic fuel cell power cubes,” according to Lisboa, that will each contain 300+ hydrogen fuel cells. The system is able to store electrons, allowing rapid refueling and flexibility in carrying heavy cargo. The power cubes, or modules, hold 80 kilowatts of power, or roughly 110 horsepower.

All companies involved have spoken about the potential they believe there is for heavy duty trucks regarding the efficiency in long ranges and fast refueling rates using cleaner energy. However, Nikola has said to have been somewhat involved in the deal as well.

Months before this announcement, Navistar made a $2 billion dollar deal with Nikola, an electric-vehicle startup. However, the company faced several controversies that forced the deal to be pushed away. GM was also under a nonbinding contract with Nikola, in which a GM spokesperson said that negotiations still continue despite the setbacks, despite the contract’s expiration at the end of 2021.

A significant and renowned competitor to Nikola is Tesla, a company that relies solely on batteries for clean energy in their electric vehicles rather than hydrogen. In response to this collaboration, Elon Musk has come out claiming that the technology planned is “mind-bogglingly stupid,” calling them “fool cells.”

Despite such commentary, GM has already made plans in the past to go all-electric one way or another, but for the most part, many companies have focused on battery technology. Recently, however, hydrogen power has gained stamina as well. Especially due to longer range and advantages in power, other companies such as Hyundai and Toyota have also looked into hydrogen.

Hyundai currently has 220 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles out on the roads, and Toyota has had 5,000 buyers of their Mirai vehicle since its introduction in 2015. Russ Koble, one of Toyota’s spokesmen in environmental and advanced technology stated, “Toyota has long maintained that hydrogen fuel cell technology could be a zero-emission solution across a broad spectrum of vehicle types.”

Honda and Toyota have even partnered up themselves with a branch of Shell Oil to develop more hydrogen fueling stations in California, where the majority of fuel cell stations have begun to pop up on maps. In addition, companies like Nikola have announced plans to set up even more along truck routes in order to support the incoming industry of trucks in transportation using hydrogen.

There are still drawbacks to the decision of attempting to use hydrogen for these semi-trucks, as pure hydrogen isn’t easily accessible, and the cost of creating fuel cells are expensive, companies like GM and Navistar believe in the industry’s potential. For now, only time will tell if the decision was a beneficial investment.

Photo: cnbc.com/Patrick T. Fallon