An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has designed size-optimized platinum nanoparticles for catalysis in fuel cells that exhibit specific and mass activities twice as high as the best commercially catalysis available today (Tanaka commercial Pt/C). A paper on their work is published in the journal... Read more →

Faurecia, one of the world’s leading automotive technology companies, is creating a global center of expertise for hydrogen storage systems at its R&D center in Bavans, France. Faurecia aims to invest in research and development in new-generation high-pressure tanks that are more efficient and lighter, as well as in a... Read more →

Hyundai Group joined its partner Rimac Automobili in an event hosted by Rimac CEO Mate Rimac and attended by Croatian Prime Minister, ministers, and senior government officials to discuss the potential of the new auto industry in Croatia. In May, the Hyundai Group announced an investment of €80 million in... Read more →

Bloom Energy, a developer of solid oxide fuel cell power generators, announced the ability of its Energy Servers to operate on renewable hydrogen. Current Bloom Energy Servers generate electricity using natural gas or biogas as fuel. At peak times, some US states and countries already have more renewable power than... Read more →

Cummins Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, all the issued and outstanding shares of fuel-cell systems provider Hydrogenics Corporation for US$15.00 per share in cash, other than shares already owned by The Hydrogen Company, representing an enterprise value of approximately $290 million. Following... Read more →

The Artois-Gohelle transport authority (SMT-AG) has inaugurated France’s first refueling station for hydrogen buses. The entire clean hydrogen production, storage and distribution chain is equipped with McPhy technologies. The SMT-AG has attributed to ENGIE, via its subsidiary GNVERT, the design, supply, installation and maintenance of the Houdain-Divion hydrogen gas distribution... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company signeda memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco). The MOU provides a framework to accelerate expansion of a hydrogen ecosystem in the Korean and Saudi Arabian markets, and to explore the use of advanced non-metallic materials in various fields including the automotive industry.... Read more →

Porterbrook and the University of Birmingham’s Center for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) announced that the UK’s first hydrogen train—HydroFLEX (earlier post)— will be tested on the mainline railway following a successful proof-of-concept. The mainline testing of HydroFLEX marks an important step in the development of a zero-carbon emission propulsion... Read more →

On the sidelines of the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth, US Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette; Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko; and European Union Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Cañete signed a joint statement of future... Read more →

Cal State LA has won a statewide award for its zero-emission vehicle sharing program. The university’s Parking and Transportation Services and Cal State LA Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility received a best practice award for sustainable transportation in the 2019 Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Best Practice Awards competition. The contest,... Read more →

SW/TCH Maritime (SW/TCH), an impact investment platform building the first fleet of zero-emissions maritime vessels in the US, announced its investment to construct and own the ‘Water Go Round’ e-ferry in collaboration with Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM), a provider of turn-key hydrogen fuel cell power systems for ships.... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems unveiled its 8th generation high-performance fuel cell module, the FCmove-HD, at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit being held in Stockholm, Sweden. FCmove-HD The culmination of product development and field experience based on almost 14 million kilometers (9 million miles) of vehicle operation, Ballard’s FCmove-HD fuel cell... Read more →

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Arkansas have developed a highly efficient catalyst for extracting electrical energy from ethanol. The ternary Au@PtIr core–shell catalyst, described in a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, steers the electro-oxidation of ethanol... Read more →

Everfuel, Wrightbus, Ballard Power Systems, Hexagon Composites, Nel Hydrogen and Ryse Hydrogen—leading players in the hydrogen fuel cell electric value chain—are joining forces to form the H2Bus Consortium. The members are committed to deploying 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, along with supporting infrastructure, in European cities at commercially competitive... Read more →

The Italian city of Bolzano is the first customer to order Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses. (Earlier post.) Twelve Solaris hydrogen buses will follow the last year’s delivery of battery vehicles. The contract includes an 8 year-long service and maintenance package. The vehicles will be equipped with a 60 kW... Read more →

At the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM10) meeting, a new international hydrogen partnership was announced under the leadership of the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the European Commission with participation of several other CEM member countries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) would be coordinating efforts under this initiative.... Read more →

Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group’s (GCV) subsidiary brand, Yuan Cheng, launched two new zero-emission buses at a ceremony in Beijing: the F12 hydrogen fuel cell bus and C11 battery-electric bus. The F12 is Geely’s first commercial vehicle which utilizes hydrogen fuel cell technology and after a 10-minute refueling can... Read more →

China-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies announced that its latest high power and high power-density automotive fuel cell stacks made using the company’s patent-pending graphite bipolar plates with thickness of 1.1mm exhibit performance superior to that of conventional metal bipolar plates and typical graphite bipolar plates. By optimizing bipolar plate and... Read more →

DHL Express and electric vehicle maker StreetScooter are collaborating on a new electric delivery vehicle. The new H2 Panel Van will become the first 4.25-tonne electric vehicle with an added fuel cell, which will provide additional power and enable a range up to 500 kilometers. In a first step, DHL... Read more →

Under the EU FLAGSHIPS initiative, ABB will provide a fuel-cell-based power and propulsion solution for a newbuild push boat for the France-based Sogestran Group subsidiary Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (CFT), due for delivery in 2021. FLAGSHIPS is the EU-funded initiative to deploy commercially operated zero-emission vessels for inland and short... Read more →

Business Korea reports that sales of Hyundai Motor’s Nexo hydrogen fuel cell vehicle this year reached 1,075 units on May 17, exceeding the 949 units sold for the whole of last year. This marks the first time Hyundai has sold more than 1,000 hydrogen cars annually since 2013. Of the... Read more →

Iwatani Corporation of America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iwatani Corporation recently acquired four hydrogen-refueling stations in California from Messer (formerly Linde, LLC). The stations are Open Retail Stations providing hydrogen fuel to consumers in support of rapidly growing demand for zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). On 1 March... Read more →

Daimler AG aims to have a carbon-neutral new passenger car fleet by 2039, said Ola Källenius, the future Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, and currently still responsible for Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development as a member of the Board of Management. Let’s be clear what... Read more →

Transport for London (TfL) has ordered 20 hydrogen double-decker buses as part of its drive to make London’s transport zero-emission. It follows the introduction of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone last month. The environment-friendly vehicles will be introduced on routes 245, 7 and N7, with people traveling to... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Waterloo (Canada), with a colleague in Sweden, have used a power management strategy greatly to extend the durability of onboard fuel cells in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle: an increase of 1.8, 4.8 and 6.9 times, respectively, for an urban, highway and a combined urban-highway... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems will provide six FCmove-HD fuel cell modules to power two B-train tractor-trailer trucks as part of a C$15 million (US$11.2 million) Alberta Zero-Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC) project. (A B-train consists of two trailers linked together by a fifth wheel.) Each module generates 70 kW of power;... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems reached agreement with Weichai Ballard Hy-Energy Technologies Co., Ltd. (Weichai-Ballard JV) for the supply of a mix of certain fuel cell products and components that will be used in the assembly of modules to power zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in China. The order will have... Read more →

Bosch has formed an alliance with Powercell Sweden AB, the Swedish manufacturer of fuel-cell stacks. Under the agreement, the two partners will work jointly to make the polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell ready for production. Bosch will then manufacture this technology under license for the global automotive market. The stack... Read more →

Plug Power Inc. and Charlatte America, a member of the Fayat Group, the leading manufacturer of battery powered electric airport ground support equipment (GSE) throughout Europe and the United States, have delivered fuel cell-powered electric cargo tuggers for use by FedEx at the Albany International Airport. The ground support vehicles... Read more →

A team of researchers in Italy has transformed chars—the least valuable by-product of waste-tire pyrolysis—into highly efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) catalysts for use in alkaline fuel cells and metal air batteries. A paper on their work is published in the Journal of Power Sources. The dramatic growth in the... Read more →

New Flyer of America announced that a test demonstration with a New Flyer 40', heavy-duty fuel-cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2 bus for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) achieved 350-miles (563 km) of zero-emission range. These results exceeded the 300-mile range performance target by 17% without refueling. The forty-foot Xcelsior CHARGE... Read more →

Grove Hydrogen Automotive Co. Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement with the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil to proceed with the production and distribution of Grove hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for Brazil. Much like China, Brazil is a country rich in geographic resources. Grove is focused on establishing sustainable mobility worldwide,... Read more →

Toyota, Kenworth, the Port of Los Angeles and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) unveiled the first of Toyota and Kenworth’s jointly developed fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks during a special event held at the Port of Los Angeles. The new generation zero-emission truck expands on the capabilities of Toyota’s... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and H2 Energy AG have signed a contract for a joint venture—Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility—aimed at taking a lead across Europe’s burgeoning hydrogen mobility ecosystem. To begin the joint venture’s operations, Hyundai Motor will deliver 1,600 fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks to Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility from 2019 through... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with local energy firms Korea East-West Power (EWP) and Deokyang to generate electricity from hydrogen. The pilot project conducted under the MOU will deliver a 1 megawatt (MW) hydrogen fuel cell power facility, with Hyundai Motor building the fuel cell system,... Read more →

US Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Susan Collins (R-ME) along with Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) introduced the Driving America Forward Act, bipartisan legislation to expand the electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell tax credits. Under current law, consumers may receive a tax credit of... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems Europe A/S—a subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems, Inc.—has signed an Equipment Supply Agreement (ESA) with Norled A/S, one of Norway’s largest ferry and express boat operators, to provide two next-generation 200 kW fuel cell modules that will be used to power a hybrid ferry planned to begin... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems Europe A/S—a subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems, Inc.—is establishing a Marine Center of Excellence (Marine CoE) dedicated to fuel cell marine applications at the company’s engineering, manufacturing and service facility in Hobro, Denmark. The Marine CoE will design and manufacture heavy duty fuel cell modules to address... Read more →

The fuel cell plug-in hybrid Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL (combined hydrogen consumption: 0.34 kg/100 km, combined CO₂ emissions: 0 g/km, combined power consumption: 13.7 kWh/100 km) has successfully passed its 360° environmental check. The results have been verified by the TÜV Süd technical service. The environmental check is based on an... Read more →

Toyota announced that it will grant royalty-free licenses on nearly 24,000 patents it holds (including some pending applications) for vehicle electrification-related technologies. Also, Toyota will provide fee-based technical support to other manufacturers developing and selling electrified vehicles when they use Toyota’s motors, batteries, PCUs, control ECUs, and other vehicle electrification... Read more →

FirstElement Fuel has secured $24 million to help fund the growth of its True Zero Hydrogen Network of retail stations in California, and thereby quadruple the company’s capacity to dispense retail hydrogen to customers of fuel cell electric vehicles. FirstElement Fuel’s retail hydrogen network is the largest in the world... Read more →

Dana Incorporated is applying its fuel cell expertise to designing and manufacturing composite and metallic bipolar plates for public transportation systems, such as eBus and hydrail applications. Developing and validating fuel-cell component solutions for emerging, environmentally friendly public transportation vehicles is another milestone in Dana’s efforts to enable the commercialization... Read more →

Plug Power Inc. launched its 30 kW hydrogen fuel cell system, the newest commercial product from the ProGen suite of products. The ProGen 30kW engine provides a cost-effective solution to meet the needs of today’s electric vehicle (EV) use-case, including high utilization, extended runtimes, reliable performance in harsh environments, rapid... Read more →

The number of fuel cell vehicles available to consumers and on the road continues to grow as exhibited by sales and lease volumes. As of February 2019, there were 6,558 fuel cell vehicles on the road, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Fuel cell vehicle sales (including leases)... Read more →

Hyster Europe is developing a zero-emission reachstacker featuring a hydrogen fuel cell for the Port of Valencia, as part of the European Horizon 2020 program and H2Ports project. The port will be the first in Europe to incorporate hydrogen energy in its operations. A conventional Hyster Reachstacker in operation. An... Read more →

For use in fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen has to be free of any contaminants that could damage the fuel cell. Professor Andreas Schütze and his research team at Saarland University are collaborating with research partners—the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and Hydac Electronic GmbH—to develop a sensor system... Read more →

New Flyer of America Inc. and New Flyer Industries Canada ULC, subsidiaries of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), the largest bus manufacturer in North America, unveiled the Xcelsior CHARGE H2—ts fuel cell-electric heavy-duty transit bus—and announced that both the forty-foot and sixty-foot model have successfully completed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)... Read more →

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) are considering the possibility of further collaborating on international space exploration. As a first step, JAXA and Toyota have reached agreement to further cooperate on and to accelerate their ongoing joint study of a manned, pressurized rover that employs... Read more →

Michelin and Faurecia signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a joint venture bringing together all of Michelin’s fuel-cell-related activities—including its subsidiary Symbio—with those of Faurecia. Symbio, a Faurecia Michelin Hydrogen Company will be owned equally by Faurecia and Michelin. This French joint venture will develop, produce and market hydrogen... Read more →

In close cooperation with Joma-Polytec and Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH, a subsidiary of Daimler AG, BASF’s engineering plastic Ultramid has successfully been used to manufacture a number of fuel cell system components. This solution is being used as standard in the new Mercedes GLC F-CELL, which combines a fuel cell... Read more →