Carmakers to Standardize Hydrogen Supply Systems for Fuel-Cell Cars
Eleven leading global automakers have joined together to standardise hydrogen supply systems for fuel-cell vehicles, according to a Nikkei report.
Under the basic agreement, the automakers will start their co-operation in the early stages of vehicle development and will use common specifications to avoid proprietary standards. The automakers anticipate commercialisation of fuel-cell vehicles to catch on as early as 2015.
The standardisation efforts are being led by Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Daimler, Volkswagen (VW), BMW, General Motors (GM), Ford, Renault, and Hyundai – automakers that intend to develop fuel-cell vehicles. The group hopes to submit these common standards to the International Organization for Standardization as early as this year.
These automakers aim to remove constraints on fuel-cell vehicles by adhering to common standards for the connectors that are used to fill vehicles with hydrogen and other specifications, such as the pressure inside hydrogen storage tanks. Fuel-cell vehicles will require a hydrogen filling infrastructure, making it imperative to set uniform standards to ensure the benefits from economies of scale.
Installation of this filling infrastructure is already under way. Daimler has announced plans to set up 20 hydrogen stations, mainly in cities, starting this year; Daimler’s fuel-cell vehicles are expected to be launched in 2015. In Japan, 13 firms–including Toyota, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, Tokyo Gas, and Idemitsu Kosan–together intend to build hydrogen stations starting in fiscal year 2013.
Source: downstreamtoday.com
