Robotics & Automation News

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fuel cells

Continental inaugurates new fuel cell laboratory with German university

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Continental AG is expanding its fuel cell technology sector, opening the newly established Fuel Cell Laboratory for Fuel Cell Technology with the Chemnitz University of Technology Professorship of Advanced Powertrains (ALF).

With the installation of a large hydrogen tank (H2 Tank) in February 2019 at a laboratory belonging to ALF, a central requirement for the expansion to more extensive measuring capabilities was put into place.

ALF, headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas von Unwerth, has an excellent reputation in the field of research and development of fuel cells.

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World’s largest hydrogen fuelling station launched in Shanghai

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SAIC Motor and Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park have jointly launched a hydrogen fuel cell car refuelling station, which is currently the largest and highest-level of its kind in the world.

The Chinese auto maker has developed three types of new energy vehicles – electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs)– and mastered several FCV core technologies.

The company has participated in the formulation of 15 national standards on FCV and is the first Chinese auto maker to have achieved the commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell in passenger cars and commercial cars.

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Continental presents technology to extend the range of electric vehicles

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At the 32nd Electric Vehicle Symposium last month in Lyon, France, experts from Continental‘s powertrain business gave presentations on innovations for a more efficient electromobility.

As the general interest in electromobility and electric vehicles (EVs) is on the up, the company believes it is important to ensure that using an EV is practical on a day-to-day level.

Thermal Management on a system level, for instance, can help to achieve a considerably longer vehicle range despite cold or hot ambient temperatures.

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Bosch to cooperate in large-scale production of fuel cells for trucks and cars

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Bosch is entering the market for mobile fuel cells and paving the way for the breakthrough of this technology in trucks and cars.

A crucial component is the stack. As the core of the fuel cell, is converts hydrogen into electrical energy.

To further improve and manufacture these stacks, Bosch has now formed an alliance with Powercell Sweden AB, the Swedish manufacturer of fuel-cell stacks.

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Hyundai and H2 Energy sign joint venture deal on hydrogen mobility in Europe

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Hyundai Motor Company and H2 Energy AG have signed a contract for a joint venture, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, aimed at taking a lead across Europe’s burgeoning hydrogen mobility ecosystem.

To begin the joint venture’s operations, Hyundai Motor will deliver 1,600 fuel cell electric heavy-duty trucks to Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility from 2019 through 2025.

The venture will then lease a large portion of these fuel-cell powered trucks to the H2 Mobility Switzerland Association, which comprises major refuelling station operators, transport and logistics companies, as well as to various other industry players that promote hydrogen mobility in Switzerland.

The joint entity will further expand its market presence to other European countries beyond Switzerland.

Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility also plans to penetrate the hydrogen sales market through a subsidiary firm that produces and supplies hydrogen in Switzerland, with prospects for entering other European countries.

With the establishment of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, Hyundai expects to gain a foothold in Switzerland, where the demand for fuel cell trucks is expected to grow from a stiff nationwide road tax on diesel trucks, which incentivises fleet operators of diesel trucks to switch to zero emission vehicles.

In the longer term, Hyundai plans to establish an advanced, sustainable position in Europe’s fuel cell electric commercial vehicle market, as it increasingly embraces green mobility amid stringent regulations targeting carbon emissions.

H2 Energy has industrywide capabilities throughout Switzerland’s hydrogen ecosystem, encompassing hydrogen production and supply, refuelling stations, fuel cell vehicle procurement and other fields.

The company also offers technical and consulting solutions, drawing on its engineering expertise, extensive infrastructure, solid market presence and close industrywide connections.

After scaling up to meet the demand in Europe, Hyundai will launch its fuel-cell commercial vehicle businesses in other regions around the world, including the U.S. and domestic market in Korea.

Hyundai Motor is a world leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, becoming the world’s first automaker to commercialize fuel-cell electric vehicles with the introduction of ix35 Fuel Cell (also known as Tucson Fuel Cell in some markets) in 2013.

NEXO – Hyundai’s second-generation FCEV with a 609-kilometer range on a single charge (under Korean certification standards) – emits only clean water vapor and purifies the air while driving.

The fuel-cell electric powertrain technology has advantages over the battery electric powertrain technology in large commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses.