GM and Honda joint venture officially launches hydrogen fuel cell production

 On January 25, General Motors and Honda Motor announced that their joint venture, Fuel Cell System Manufacturing (FCSM), has officially started production of hydrogen fuel cells, which will be used for "various product applications" in the future.

Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen as fuel and their only emission is water vapor. Recently, several automakers have seen the technology's advantages in heavy-duty trucks and mobile generators, as well as a way to move further away from polluting gasoline vehicles.

FCSM, founded in 2017, is jointly funded by General Motors and Honda. Previously, the two companies have worked together to create models such as the Honda Prologue, Acura ZDX and Cruise Origin in the field of pure electric vehicles.

The FCSM factory located in Brownstown, Michigan, covers an area of ​​70,000 square feet and was built by General Motors and Honda with a joint investment of US$83 million (IT Home Note: currently about 594 million yuan). The two companies called it "the first large-scale Fuel Cell Manufacturing Joint Venture”.

Hydrogen fuel cells have had a lackluster performance in the passenger car market. Honda was one of the few car companies selling hydrogen-fueled passenger cars, but its Clarity model was discontinued in 2017, mainly due to a lack of hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Now, automakers are turning their attention to trucks and construction equipment, which operate in relatively closed areas, believing it is more feasible to build hydrogen fueling stations in these areas.

One of the challenges facing hydrogen fuel cells is that hydrogen has a low volumetric energy density and the storage process requires high pressure, low temperature or chemical means, which limits its use in light vehicles.