GM, Honda Latest To Join In Fuel Cell Development

General Motors and Honda Motor Co. will partner to develop a common system for fuel cell vehicles with the goal of getting them into showrooms by 2020, the companies said on July 2. GM and Honda, both pioneers in fuel cell technology, said their partnership will cut development costs, partly by consolidating their supplier bases for fuel cell components. And they will work to expand refueling infrastructure, considered the biggest barrier to widespread consumer adoption.

The agreement is the latest in a string of alliances created to share the cost of developing a promising but expensive alternative-fuel technology. Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG in January paired up on a fuel-cell production alliance. Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. that same month said they would jointly develop a line of affordable fuel cell electric cars for sale as early as 2017.

Despite the high cost of refueling stations -- $1 million to $2 million -- automakers are pursuing the technology as part of a broad product approach to meeting stiffer CO2 regulations later this decade. Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-powered vehicles are also part of the approach.

A fuel cell vehicle creates electricity from a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the car's fuel-cell stack. Similar to a battery powered vehicle, the car uses electric motors to propel the car and batteries to store energy. Only water vapor is emitted through the tailpipe.

The cost of developing fuel cell vehicles is high partly because of platinum that is used in the fuel-cell stacks and the complexity of onboard storage of gaseous hydrogen, which requires expensive, carbon fiber storage tanks.

GM and Honda executives say they'll be able to commercialize fuel cell vehicles faster and at less cost than if they worked separately.

Find out more about fuel cell technology from FLEETSolutions' article from November/December 2011.

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