November 18, according to foreign media reports, in the wave of development of new energy vehicles, in addition to the pure electric vehicles charged, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which generate electricity through the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, are also a development direction, Toyota and Hyundai Motor and other manufacturers, in this field has been researching for many years, Hyundai launched in 2020 hydrogen fuel cell heavy truck XCIENT, it has been exported to Europe.
And from the latest reports of foreign media, the Volkswagen Group, which is vigorously promoting the transition to electric vehicles, is also developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
The foreign media reported that Volkswagen is developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from a joint patent application with the German company Kraftwerk Tubes.
The patent, filed in July 2021 and recently published, shows that they are jointly developing a new hydrogen fuel cell, which covers the development of hydrogen fuel cell packs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and that the range of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles they build can reach 1,243 miles, or 2,000 kilometers, which is much higher than the range of pure electric vehicles that are currently charged.
In addition to the range advantage, the hydrogen fuel cell developed by Volkswagen in conjunction with Kraftwerk Tubes also has a cost advantage.
From the reports of foreign media, the key technology of the hydrogen fuel cell jointly developed by Volkswagen and Kraftwerk Tubes is the ceramic membrane, which is cheaper than the polymer membrane used by Toyota and Hyundai and is considered to be the key to the future mass production of hydrogen fuel cells and their use in cars.
In addition, ceramic membranes operate without platinum, an expensive metal that has proven to be one of the cost pressures for the mass production of hydrogen fuel cells.
Although developed in collaboration with Volkswagen and patented, the CEO of Kraftwerk Tubes has confirmed that the battery pack they are developing, will not be exclusive to VW and that they are aiming to use the relevant technology for a range of production vehicles by 2026, which they expect to be 10,000 units, completed by multiple car manufacturers.
Mercedes-Benz Hydrogen Fuel Cell Concept Truck GenH2
It is worth noting that, in addition to Volkswagen, another German automaker, Mercedes-Benz, is also developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and in 2020 (before the name was changed, it was still Daimler) they launched the Mercedes-Benz GenH2, a hydrogen fuel cell concept truck with a range of 1,000 kilometers or more and a load capacity of up to 25 tons, which is planned to be tested by customers in 2023 It is scheduled to be tested by customers in 2023, with mass production starting after 2025.
