MAN Truck & Bus outlined its roadmap for the development of CO2-free mobility solutions for longer-distance transport. The company is entering into several partnerships for this purpose. For public transport and distribution applications, the decision seems to have been made: battery electric vehicles are the means of choice. Accordingly, MAN... Read more →

Nuvera Fuel Cells, a US-based manufacturer of heavy-duty fuel cell systems, is now using BASF’s polyphthalamide (PPA) Ultramid Advanced N to manufacture several components in its latest generation of 45 kW fuel cell engines. The fuel cell engines will be integrated into transit buses and delivery vehicles in China over... Read more →

Skeleton Technologies is partnering with Wrightbus to supply its next-generation high-energy ultracapacitor modules to power fuel-cell buses in the UK. The ultracapacitors’ two-times higher energy density is enabled by Skeleton’s latest material technology innovation, making them a valuable addition to hydrogen fuel cells in emissions-free transportation. Since fuel cells are... Read more →

Members of the hydrogen and fuel cell industry formally announced a new alliance to effect rapid deployment of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks, buses, locomotives, vessels, aircraft and off-road equipment throughout the Western United States. The Western States Hydrogen Alliance (WSHA) is made up of leading figures in the... Read more →

The REXH2 is a modular maritime hydrogen power solution developed around Toyota’s fuel cell technology. It has been succesfully tested in real open sea conditions aboard the Energy Observer boat for over more than 7,000 nautical miles including trans-Atlantic crossings. The hydrogen-electric hybrid technology in the REXH2 makes silent maritime... Read more →

build the next generation Bustech XDi low floor transit bus using Cummins battery-electric and hydrogen-fuel-cell technologies. The agreement provides for initial units to be developed for both battery-electric and fuel-cell electric, with plans to ramp up production in late 2021 and early 2022, respectively. We have leveraged Cummins diesel technology... Read more →

As part of the FC Komp funding project of the German government, which runs until 2021, Pierburg GmbH, a member of the Rheinmetall Group, is currently involved in the development of a highly integrated high-power fuel cell driveline. The automotive supplier is contributing an innovative hydrogen recirculation blower, the development... Read more →

Hydrogen mobility and clean energy company, HYZON Motors, and Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, the venture capital arm of European energy giant Total SE, announced a strategic investment led by Total and other specialist hydrogen investors. HYZON Motors is a global supplier of zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell powered commercial vehicles, including... Read more →

Argonne National Laboratory’s Systems Assessment Center has released the 2020 version of the suite of GREET models and associated documentation. The GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) tool provides a common, transparent platform for lifecycle analysis (LCA) of of the energy and environmental effects of a... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is announcing a request for information (RFI) from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to medium- and heavy-duty freight trucking. (DE-FOA-0002372) Affordable freight movement is essential for the nation’s economy.... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) and the H2NEW consortia to advance fuel cell truck and hydrogen production R&D. Today’s announcement builds upon DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office’s (EERE’s) intention to invest up to $100 million over five years, subject... Read more →

Methanol fuel cell developer and manufacturer Blue World Technologies (earlier post) is starting limited production—the first step in commercializing its methanol fuel cell technology. Blue World Technologies’ complete system includes a methanol reformer for fuel conversion, DC/DC for power conversion and fuel cell stack for power production. The fuel cell... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company delivered the first seven units of its XCIENT Fuel Cell, the first mass-produced fuel cell electric heavy-duty truck, to customers in Switzerland, with a total of 50 planned to hit the roads there this year. The delivery of XCIENT Fuel Cell marks the official entry of Hyundai’s... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced the recipients of EERE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office’s (HFTO’s) inaugural Postdoctoral Recognition Award. The award recognizes postdoctoral fellows from DOE National Laboratories for outstanding contributions in identifying research solutions to hydrogen and fuel cell... Read more →

Siemens Energy and Siemens Mobility have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) jointly to develop and offer hydrogen systems for trains. The project aims at jointly developing holistic hydrogen solutions for rail transport and offering them to customers to promote the hydrogen economy in Germany and Europe and support decarbonization... Read more →

East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Hitachi, Ltd., and Toyota Motor Corporation have entered into an agreement to collaborate on development of test railway vehicles equipped with hybrid systems that use hydrogen powered fuel cells and storage batteries as their source of electricity. The partners will combine their railway and... Read more →

Loop Energy, a hydrogen fuel cell company providing solutions for the commercial vehicle markets, announced that Skywell New Energy Vehicles Group (Skywell) received index approval from China’s Ministry of Industry & Information and Technology (MIIT) for a zero-emission public transport bus powered by Loop Energy’s fuel cell systems. Manufactured with... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company will host a digital premiere event for the launch of XCIENT Fuel Cell, a fuel cell heavy-duty truck (earlier post), on 14 October. At the event, leaders of Hyundai’s Commercial Vehicle Business Division and Fuel Cell Center will introduce the eco-friendly fuel cell truck and their roadmap... Read more →

Hino Trucks announced Project Z, the company’s development path to zero emissions vehicles, ranging from class 4 to class 8. In a live virtual event, Hino showcased the line-up of zero emissions trucks, partnering with technology leaders in advanced electrification drive systems. The ZEV products ranged from a class 5... Read more →

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) and Hino Trucks have agreed to develop jointly a Class 8 fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for the North American market. Hino Trucks, a Toyota Group Company, assembles, sells, and services a lineup of Class 4-8 diesel commercial trucks in the United States. The companies... Read more →

Chart Industries and fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power Inc. executed a master supply agreement for Chart to supply liquid hydrogen storage and transport equipment to Plug and its subsidiaries. In conjunction with the agreement, Chart received $7.8 million of equipment orders from Plug that are booked in the third quarter... Read more →

In June 2020, Daimler Truck AG announced that it was driving forward the series production of fuel cells with Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG. (Earlier post.) Over the past ten years, experts from Daimler built up extensive know-how in this field and have developed production methods and... Read more →

XL Fleet and Pivotal Investment Corporation II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), have recently entered into a definitive merger agreement. Upon closing, the combined company will be named XL Fleet and is expected to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange under a new ticker symbol,... Read more →

ZeroAvia recently completed the first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft. The flight took place at the company’s R&D facility in Cranfield, England, with the Piper M-class six-seat plane completing taxi, takeoff, a full pattern circuit, and landing. This milestone on the road to commercial zero-emission flight is part of... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems is expanding manufacturing capacity for production of its proprietary membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs)—a critical component of every fuel cell—6x by early 2021 at its headquarter facility in Vancouver. The upgraded capacity for production of 6 million MEAs annually, equivalent to approximately 1.66 Gigawatts of product, will make... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems and MAHLE have agreed to collaborate on the development and commercialization of zero-emission fuel cell systems to provide primary propulsion power in various classes of commercial trucks. MAHLE’s commercial vehicle division supplies a broad range of products to truck and other OEMs, including power cells, valves and... Read more →

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that Dr. Kyung-Joong Yoon and Researcher Ji-Su Shin from the Center for Energy Materials Research, together with Professor Yun -Jung Lee from Hanyang University (Hanyang University, President Woo-Seung Kim), have developed a single-atom Pt catalyst that can be used for SOFCs.... Read more →

California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 and additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector. Following the order, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) will develop regulations to mandate that 100% of in-state... Read more →

Power management company Eaton announced that its Twin Vortices Series (TVS) technology has proven to be an integral component in hydrogen fuel cell modules, which benefit from the precise air flow control offered by the TVS unit to operate at peak efficiency. The TVS fuel cell blower is electrically driven,... Read more →

Airbus has revealed three concepts for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft which could enter service by 2035. All of these concepts rely on hydrogen as a primary power source—an option which Airbus believes holds exceptional promise as a clean aviation fuel and is likely to be a solution for... Read more →

Denyo Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation have jointly developed a fuel cell power supply vehicle that uses hydrogen to generate electricity. As a leading manufacturer of mobile (portable) generators, Denyo will work with Toyota to start verification tests with the aim of commercializing it. The project has been selected... Read more →

Daimler Trucks unveiled the concept Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, marking the beginning of a fuel-cell push by Daimler for the long-haul transport segment. The premiere was staged during a presentation at STATION-Berlin of the company’s technology strategy for the electrification of its vehicles, with a focus on the technology for hydrogen-based... Read more →

Oregon-based Element 1 Corp (e1), a developer of hydrogen generation technology, in collaboration with China-based Co-Win Hydrogen Power Company Limited (CO-WIN), announced that e1’s proprietary methanol-based M-Series hydrogen generator has been incorporated onto a medium-duty fuel cell truck produced by one of the world’s largest truck manufacturing companies. Extended road... Read more →

Frontier Energy, Inc., in close collaboration with GTI and The University of Texas at Austin, has launched a US Department of Energy project, Demonstration and Framework for H2@Scale in Texas and Beyond. The project is supported by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), in collaboration with the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, has awarded Cummins, Inc. approximately $1 million in federal funds to develop H2Rescue, a hydrogen fuel cell... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems launched the FCgen-HPS, a high-performance, zero-emission, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack, to provide propulsion for a range of light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in an industry-leading volumetric high-power density of 4.3 kilowatts per liter (4.3 kW/L). This marks another power density milestone for Ballard over... Read more →

Vehicles powered by polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are energy-efficient and eco-friendly, but despite increasing public interest in PEMFC-powered transportation, current performance of materials that are used in fuel cells limits their widespread commercialization. Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory led a team to... Read more →

Hyundai’s NEXO fuel cell SUV is now available at Roseville Hyundai near Sacramento. Roseville Hyundai is the fourth dealership in California to currently offer NEXO, with two dedicated dealerships in Northern California and two in Southern California. NEXO is available now and can be leased for $379 (Blue model) or... Read more →

On 4 September 2020, the California Energy Commission (CEC) posted a Notice of Proposed Award outlining subsidies to support hydrogen refueling infrastructure in California. Equilon Enterprises LLC (d/b/a Shell Oil Products US), hereafter referred to as Shell Hydrogen, participated as an applicant in the related Grant Funding Opportunity (GFO) and... Read more →

As part of its vision to facilitate ‘Progress for Humanity,’ Hyundai Motor Company has launched Hydrogen to You, or H2U campaign, which will raise awareness of its leadership in hydrogen fuel cell technology. H2U spotlights NEXO, the brand’s flagship hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). Working with Berlin-based H2U ambassadors,... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board has released the 2020 issue of its Annual Evaluation of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Deployment and Hydrogen Fuel Station Network Development, pursuant to the requirements of AB 8 (2013). This report is the seventh annual publication. The Annual Evaluations provide CARB’s latest assessments of California’s... Read more →

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has launched the development of a special fuel cell system for heavy-duty trucks. The company is collaborating with Quantron AG, a specialist in the field of commercial vehicle conversion. The project’s first fuel cell system will be installed in a heavy-duty truck for real-world testing in the... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems has launched the fuel cell industry’s first module designed for primary propulsion power in marine vessels. Ballard’s FCwave fuel cell product is a 200-kilowatt (kW) modular unit that can be scaled in series up to the multi-megawatt (MW) power level. Ballard’s FCwave fuel cell module can be... Read more →

Nikola Corporation and General Motors Co. announced a strategic partnership that begins with the Nikola Badger and carries cost reductions through Nikola’s programs, including: Nikola Badger, Nikola Tre, Nikola One, Nikola Two and NZT. As part of the agreement, Nikola will utilize General Motors’ Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel... Read more →

NYK Line, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), and ENEOS Corporation announced that Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has approved the companies’ participation in a demonstration project for the commercialization of high-power Fuel Cell (FC) vessels. The project,... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda R&D Co., Ltd. will create a mobile power generation/output system—Moving e—that comprises a fuel cell bus that can carry a large amount of hydrogen; portable external power output devices; and portable batteries. The partners will begin demonstration testing of the system’s ability to deliver electricity... Read more →

New Zealand’s Hiringa Energy and US-based HYZON Motors Inc. have signed a Heads of Agreement that secures access for Hiringa and its fleet partners to the supply of hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered zero-emission Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The heavy fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) will be tailored to meet the demanding and unique... Read more →

Rolls-Royce Power Systems has established a new organizational unit—Power Lab—to focus on innovative and net-zero-carbon drive and energy solutions. The Power Lab will concentrate on the development of advanced technologies for the marine and infrastructure sectors, with a strong emphasis on fuel cell systems and the production and deployment of... Read more →

An international team led by Professor Matthias Arenz from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (DCB) at the University of Bern has succeeded in using a special process to produce a fuel cell electrocatalyst without a carbon carrier, which, unlike existing catalysts, consists of a thin metal network and is... Read more →

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a steam-carrier-adopted composite membrane reactor system to produce pure H2 (>99.99%) from ammonia with high productivity (>0.35 mol-H2 gcat−1 h−1) and ammonia conversion (>99%) at a significantly reduced operating temperature (<723 K). A paper on their work is... Read more →