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GM, U.S. Navy Expand Fuel-Cell Business Case

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  kevinahcc20 
#1 ·
GM, U.S. Navy Expand Fuel-Cell Business Case
WardsAuto
James M. Amend




General Motors and the U.S. Navy are working to incorporate hydrogen fuel-cell technology into future unmanned undersea vehicles, another sign the automaker intends to market the power systems to customers outside of the automotive industry.

Charlie Freese, executive director-global fuel cell activities at GM, says it’s too early in the development stage of the automaker’s fuel-cell technology to speak directly to such a business case. But given the modular, scalable nature of the systems they could meet the power needs of multiple industrial segments.

“We don’t really need to make a decision about this market or that market,” Freese tells WardsAuto during a conference call from GM’s office in Washington, where he is joined by naval officials to make the announcement.

“I can build fuel cells that can be very large with many cells, or relatively small with fewer cells, to meet different power requirements. We can provide a stackable, scalable solution tunable to different applications just by the power it provides,” he says.

GM also is working with the U.S. Army to deploy fuel-cell technology to the battlefield, where it can provide stealthy electrical supply over an extended period. Since the systems emit only water, compared with exhaust from internal-combustion power supplies, soldiers can drink from it if necessary.
 
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#3 ·
Per the below quote from the article, I think the industry is heading that way....

Freese reiterates GM’s ambitions to diversify the fuel-cell market to help GM recoup the intense R&D investment the technology demands. GM and Honda are collaborating on a vehicle they hope to commercialize in the 2020 timeframe.

“We’re interested in finding other ways to use (the) technology, but I wouldn’t say it’s got to be a separate, distinct business strategy because it is such a scalable technology,” he says.

The Navy’s application directly adopts GM’s automotive application for fuel-cell technology, but it could change as the research plays out.
 
#5 ·
Fuel cell vehicles pose three key questions:

-How is the hydrogen made and what is the "well to wheels" cost and environmental burden?
-How does the needed refueling infrastructure develop before a large fleet of fuel cell vehicles exists to create the demand (the chicken and egg problem)?

...and the biggee...

-How many grams of platinum per vehicle are required and therefore how many vehicles can be built per year within the limit of global platinum supplies and other uses?
 
#6 ·
Your biggee is actually a smallee. Every gasoline-powered vehicle sold in the US and much of the rest of the planet for the last 40 years includes a catalytic converter as part of its polluter controls. Every one of those catalytic converters requires platinum. Therefore, the platinum required by a fuel cell stack reprograms the platinum required by gasoline-powered vehicles. It is not a new requirement.
 
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