BROWNSTOWN, Mich.—Immediately, a three way partnership between Basic Motors and Honda Motor Firm, named Gasoline Cell System Manufacturing LLC (FCSM LLC), formally began producing its one and solely product—a gasoline cell system—on a business scale. FCSM formally started in January of 2017 with an preliminary funding between GM and Honda of $85,000,000. Now, the 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) facility in Brownstown, Michigan, homes 80 staff and sufficient robots, clear rooms, and all types of high-tech tools to make Ironman blush.

FCSM managing to construct gasoline cells rapidly, reliably, and cheaply is what’s new right here, not the gasoline cells themselves. And, in keeping with Tetsuo Suzuki, vice chairman of FCSM LLC, that proved the most important problem. “Our gasoline cell system consists of greater than 300 particular person cells [307 in total], every cell consists of very costly supplies. If there’s a defect in even one cell, the whole stack could be unusable,” Suzuki stated. “Subsequently, we designed all of our mass manufacturing processes with a zero-defect mindset.” Including, “We launched high quality management into each course of.”

Tips on how to construct a gasoline cell

Extra particularly, every cell consists of a number of components, beginning with two totally different liquids that FCSM calls “inks.” One ink varieties an anode, the opposite, a cathode. FCSM then pours every liquid onto a carbon-fiber paper, which it then heats to dry. It then exactly cuts these two totally different papers into form and bonds them collectively to type what it calls a unitized electrode meeting, or UEA; the cathode on one aspect, the anode on the opposite. Each of the anode and cathode sheets are black, however the cathode sheet is gloss, and the anode sheet is matte.

Individually, FCSM exactly varieties a skinny sheet with particular channels for hydrogen and oxygen to go by. It calls this sheet a bi-polar plate, or BPP. FCSM considers any additional element of the BPP proprietary and stored mum when requested about thickness, supplies, and so forth. The BPP and UEA then meet and bond collectively, forming one cell. FCSM does that 306 extra occasions, stacks all of them tightly collectively in a case, makes use of greater than a mile of sealant to maintain it from leaking, and voila, one accomplished gasoline cell leaves the road.

As all of that meeting takes place, 50 cameras monitor progress, consistently maintaining a particularly shut watch on every step of the method to make sure nothing will get contaminated. To that finish, the few people who do play a task right here should first put plastic booties over their sneakers and take an air bathe, as this portion of meeting is a clear room. Earlier than thought of completed, every gasoline cell completes a leak check, however utilizing helium, not hydrogen. FCSM claims that helium pumped by the stack “at a sure fee” correlates to hydrogen, all with out the danger of a extremely flammable fuel leaking in a producing plant.

Assuming it passes the leak check, FCSM lastly submits the gasoline cell to a roughly one-hour-long break-in process, which prepares it to start out making energy. As soon as accomplished, the gasoline cell both goes subsequent door to start out life as a GM HydroTec Energy Dice, or it heads to Honda’s Efficiency Manufacturing Heart outdoors of Marysville, Ohio, to start out life as a, effectively, “Gasoline Cell Module.” Honda failed to call its model of the three way partnership last product simply but.

FCSM didn’t reveal a lot about energy outputs or different particulars. However in keeping with Jay Joseph, vice chairman of sustainability and enterprise growth at Honda, “These programs are modular. We are able to add 250kW with every further module.” That provides us a superb basis to work with.

As soon as every module or Energy Dice leaves FCSM premises, this GM and Honda co-owned, co-developed product begins to compete with itself. Regardless of each manufacturers talking extremely of one another and this technical partnership that started in 2013, each manufacturers look to pursue comparable traces of enterprise.

However, a minimum of to start out, we’d like not fear about an excessive amount of friction between these various energy-seeking companions.

Mining vans to massive rigs to mills

Hydrogen gasoline cells work effectively for big autos. In keeping with Charlie Freese, govt director International HydroTec GM, “Gasoline cells uniquely fill the necessity of the heaviest, most succesful autos that carry the most important payloads the longest distances and in addition require quick refueling.” Freese added, “These programs could be utilized to every thing from mining tools to Class 8 vans [semi-trucks or tractor trailers] to energy mills.”

Freese proceeded to debate a collaboration with Autocar, a truck producer, to make use of the gasoline cell to energy cement vans, refuse haulers, terminal tractors, and sophistication eight semi-trucks. And, when requested later, people at GM stated it might take “possibly two” Energy Cubes to propel a single truck of this dimension. Taking that line of thought additional, Freese additionally talked about a collaboration with Komatsu: “The Komatsu mine haul truck, it is going to have two megawatts of hydrogen gasoline cell energy on board to affect the 930E 320-ton dump truck.” GM stated it might take “extra like 20” Energy Cubes for every mining truck.

That is to not say that GM does not plan to include gasoline cell know-how into passenger automobiles, however Freese introduced forth the thought this manner:

“GM views gasoline cells as being a complement to lithium-ion battery know-how,” Freese stated. “Every has a task to play. In actual fact, virtually each gasoline cell utility you possibly can level to has a battery concerned in serving to make the propulsion system perform as a hybrid.” Previously, Freese has informed Ars that purposes like heavy trucking alongside predictable routes take advantage of sense for hydrogen within the close to time period relatively than making an attempt to construct out infrastructure for a whole nation’s passenger autos.

Honda is constructing a passenger gasoline cell EV

Conversely, Joseph reminded us that the upcoming Honda CR-V gasoline cell electrical automobile, or FCEV, is only a couple months away. Honda will construct that model of CR-V on the Efficiency Manufacturing Heart in Ohio and can use the brand new gasoline cell popping out of the FCSM plant. When in comparison with Honda’s final gasoline cell automobile, the Readability, Joseph stated that “it is a new era of gasoline cell, one era superior. It is lighter, smaller, has extra energy output, and is considerably extra dependable than the earlier era.”

On prime of that, Joseph additionally states this collaborative gasoline cell prices one-third lower than the Readability’s unit.

Passenger autos make up considered one of 4 pillars that Honda sees in its gasoline cell future, with business vans, stationary energy stations, and development equipment making up the opposite three. In the end just like GM however inverted.

Motoring round in hydrogen gasoline cell-powered passenger automobiles en masse nonetheless appears a great distance away. Battery-electric autos have had a giant head begin and can at all times be extra environment friendly due to the losses concerned in hydrogen manufacturing. On that subject—in 2023, the US Division of Vitality stated it’s spending $7 billion to construct a collection of regional clear hydrogen-generation hubs.

However I really feel really heartened to see an earnest effort to scale up manufacturing of a know-how that makes use of an, in the end, plentiful power supply with nothing greater than water as exhaust.