German engineering company Bosch has begun mass production of its hydrogen-powered fuel-cell power modules for commercial vehicles
It is a scalable fuel cell power module that uses hydrogen to produce energy in cars. Commercial vehicles are where it is most commonly used, especially for long distances. The system consists of a fuel cell stack as well as any necessary fuel cell submodules, such as those for hydrogen and air.
The pilot customer is the U.S. company Nikola Motors and its fuel cell-electric truck, which is due to debut in the US market in the third quarter of this year.
According to Bosch, its systems supplier can provide fuel cell systems from a single source, can be integrated easily into existing vehicle platforms, and has a modular design.
The Bosch plant in Bamberg, Germany, will supply the Feuerbach factory with the fuel-cell stack. And important system components such as the electric air compressor and the recirculation blower come from the Bosch plant in Homburg, Germany. Production of the fuel-cell power module is not only starting in Feuerbach, but also in Chongqing, China. The components it requires will come from the Wuxi plant. “Bosch is the first company to produce these systems in both China and Germany,” said Dr. Stefan Hartung, the chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
In addition, Bosch is also planning to manufacture stacks for mobile applications in its U.S. plant in Anderson, South Carolina. Worldwide, the company expects that by 2030, one in five new trucks weighing six tons or more will feature a fuel-cell powertrain.
