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By José Blanc
BROWNSTOWN, Mich. (Reuters) – General Motors and Honda have begun shipping mobile fuel systems to consumers from a plant near Detroit, they said on Thursday, as part of a new test to determine whether hydrogen electric generation can be a mass-market success. .
Initial production of fuel-powered mobile propulsion systems will be low, and Honda’s lead executive, Jay Joseph, said at an event on Wednesday that his company aims to deliver 2,000 fuel-powered mobile propulsion systems a year by the middle of this decade.
Honda will use fuel cells in an edition of its popular CR-V gaming app vehicle to be unveiled in March, and Joseph said they will be included in other products as well, adding desktop electric generators.
The company and Japanese truck manufacturer Isuzu are unveiling a hydrogen-powered Class 8 semi-trailer.
GM has previously announced plans to supply mobile fuel systems to advertising truck maker Autocar and construction and heavy mining equipment maker Komatsu, and markets mobile fuel under the Hydrotec brand.
The company has been running on fuel cells as an alternative to combustion engines for nearly 60 years. Its chief executive, Mary Barra, said in 2021 that the automaker was developing a medium-duty advertising truck that would use power from a fuel cell.
Charlie Freese, CEO of GM’s Hydrotec global operations, declined to discuss production volume targets or the timeline for a GM mobile fuel truck at one point Wednesday.
Rival automakers including Hyundai, Toyota, Stellantis, Daimler Trucks and U.S. startup Nikola are pushing to develop commercially viable fuel cell technology as a replacement for diesel motors as tougher clean air standards threaten combustion technology.
Mobile fuel generation promises to replicate the transport force and immediate refueling of heavy-duty diesel engines in a way that batteries can’t match.
But it has failed to break through despite government subsidies and incentives due to the peak load on systems and a lack of hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
For the GM-Honda joint venture’s advertising production, “we’re looking to work with consumers who have the ability to do centralized refueling,” Freese said.
(Reporting by Joseph White; Editing by Jan Harvey)