Industry News: General Motors and Honda Announce A Hydrogen Partnership

[William Maley]

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William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

July 3, 2013

Hydrogen, the fuel that automakers say will be available within ten years and doesn't, got some big press yesterday. General Motors and Honda announced a new partnership that will see the co-development of a next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies by 2020. The partnership will also look at reducing the cost of shared components that come from this and contribute to building an infrastructure for Hydrogen.

The two automakers have fuel-cell development programs, but at a limited scale. General Motors launched a fleet of hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinoxes back in 2007. The company says the fleet has done close to three million miles. Honda has leased a small number of their FCX and FCX Clarity vehicles.

Neither automaker said that a car (or cars) would be coming at this time.

Source: General Motors, Honda

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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GM, Honda to Collaborate on Next-Generation Fuel Cell Technologies

• Goal is commercially feasible fuel cell and hydrogen storage in 2020 time frame
  

2013-07-02

NEW YORK – General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) announced today a long-term, definitive master agreement to co-develop next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies, aiming for the 2020 time frame. The collaboration expects to succeed by sharing expertise, economies of scale and common sourcing strategies.

GM and Honda plan to work together with stakeholders to further advance refueling infrastructure, which is critical for the long-term viability and consumer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles.

GM and Honda are acknowledged leaders in fuel cell technology. According to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index, GM and Honda rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in total fuel cell patents filed between 2002 and 2012, with more than 1,200 between them.

"This collaboration builds upon Honda and GM's strengths as leaders in hydrogen fuel cell technology," said Dan Akerson, GM chairman and CEO. "We are convinced this is the best way to develop this important technology, which has the potential to help reduce the dependence on petroleum and establish sustainable mobility."

Takanobu Ito, president & CEO of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said: "Among all zero CO2 emission technologies, fuel cell electric vehicles have a definitive advantage with range and refueling time that is as good as conventional gasoline cars. Honda and GM are eager to accelerate the market penetration of this ultimate clean mobility technology, and I am excited to form this collaboration to fuse our leading fuel cell technologies and create an advanced system that will be both more capable and more affordable."

GM's Project Driveway program, launched in 2007, has accumulated nearly 3 million miles of real-world driving in a fleet of 119 hydrogen-powered vehicles, more than any other automaker.

Honda began leasing of the Honda FCX in 2002 and has deployed 85 units in the U.S. and Japan, including its successor, the FCX Clarity, which was named the 2009 World Green Car. Honda has delivered these vehicles to the hands of customers in the U.S. and collected valuable data concerning real-world use of fuel cell electric vehicles.

As already announced, Honda plans to launch the successor of FCX Clarity in Japan and the United States in 2015, and then in Europe. GM will announce its fuel cell production plans at a later date.

Fuel cell technology addresses many of the major challenges facing automobiles today – petroleum dependency, emissions, efficiency, range and refueling times. Fuel cell vehicles can operate on renewable hydrogen made from sources like wind and biomass. The only emission from fuel cell vehicles is water vapor.

Additionally, fuel cell vehicles can have up to 400 miles driving range, can be refueled in as little as three minutes, and the propulsion technology can be used on small, medium, and large vehicles.

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[David]

Must be a EPA/GOV requirement as of this time, the cost for what it will take to build and create these vehicles does not justify the investment. CNG is a far more logical next step.

Just like Bankrupt California, spending millions to build a few select Hydrogen public filling stations and they cannot pay their own debt bills. Some poor decisions being made IMHO.

[Drew Dowdell]

Fuel cell is about 2-3 generations away for a Volt. GM is actually ahead of the game here.

[Z-06]

Given historically GM, Honda and Benz were always ahead in this technology, how come Toyota is leap frogging them with a production car for masses?

[Guest potluck]

Financially, hydrogen is a bomb.

[David]

Hydrogen is a Financial Nightmare for those that think this is the logical next step. This is not the right place for GM to spend Money on. There are far more better ways for them to spend R&D dollars than this mess.