Nissan, Mercedes and Ford team up to develop fuel cells

January 28, 2013: Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler have announced the formation of a three-way partnership aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology.

Together, the three carmakers plan to develop a common fuel cell system to be used in what they describe as “highly differentiated, separately branded fuel cell electric vehicles” as early as 2017.

The companies say they plan to help define global specifications, component standards and develop the infrastructure solutions necessary to allow fuel-cell electric vehicles to be mass-marketed.

Powered by electricity from hydrogen and oxygen, fuel-cell electric vehicles emit only water while driving. Electricity used to power electric motors is produced on-board in the fuel cell stack where it is generated following an electro-chemical reaction between hydrogen, which is stored in a high-pressure tank, and oxygen from the air.

“We are convinced that fuel cell vehicles will play a central role for zero-emission mobility in the future. This co-operation will make technology available for many customers around the globe,” said Thomas Weber, head of R&D at Daimler, at today’s announcement.

“Working together will significantly help speed this technology to market at a more affordable cost to our customers,” said Raj Nair, group vice-president, Global Product Development, Ford Motor Company. “We will all benefit from this relationship as the resulting solution will be better than any one company working alone.”

Engineering work on both the fuel cell stack and the fuel cell system will be done jointly by the three companies at several locations around the world. The partners are also studying the joint development of other FCEV components to generate even further synergies. The unique collaboration across three continents and three companies will help define global specifications and component standards, an important prerequisite for achieving higher economies of scale.

Confirmation of the partnership between Ford, Nissan and Daimler for fuel-cell electric vehicle technology comes less than a week after BMW and Toyota announced they had entered into a similar joint venture.

GREG KABLE, AUTOCAR UK

Photograph: (L-R) Raj Nair, Group vice-president, Global Product Development, Ford Motor Company; Prof. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development; and Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Member of the Board of Directors and executive vice-president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., supervising R&D.