Honda Motor Co. said it will partner with General Motors Co to start producing a new hydrogen fuel cell system this year and gradually step up sales this decade, in an effort to expand its hydrogen business.
An annual sale of around 2,000 units of the new system will be Honda’s target, in the middle of this decade, the company said on Thursday, and it would aim to boost that to 60,000 units per year in 2030.
The Japanese carmaker seeks to expand the use of this new system for its own fuel cell EVs as well as commercial vehicles like heavy trucks, stationary power stations, and in construction machinery.
Honda’s senior managing executive director, Shinji Aoyama, told reporters during a company event in Tokyo, that the fuel cell system production through a joint venture with GM will start this year.
The “next generation” system will help the company double the durability compared with its older fuel cell system and to cut costs by two-thirds.
“While commercial vehicles are in use all over the world, they’ll likely see electrification just as with passenger cars,” said Tetsuya Hasebe, general manager of Honda’s hydrogen business development division. That would likely lead to a divergence in trucks using batteries and those running on fuel cells, he added.
source: Reuters.com
