Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2023 - 19

PROPULSION | MANUFACTURING FEATURE
BOSCH HIGH on HYDROGEN
Bosch's fuel-cell
power module is
designed to fit the
envelope previously
occupied by the
truck's diesel engine.
The supplier is committed to all facets of the H2
A
t its oldest and largest location - a site long accustomed to
manufacturing parts for combustion engines - Bosch is
now producing what it calls the most complex system it has
ever developed: a fuel-cell power module (FCPM).
Production at the Stuttgart-Feuerbach site in Germany officially
kicked off in July during a Bosch Tech Day event attended by global
media. The pilot customer for the FCPMs is Nikola with its Tre hydrogen
fuel-cell electric truck, which is expected to launch in North
America in the third quarter of 2023.
Bosch is committed to all facets of the hydrogen value chain, from
developing an electrolysis stack and components for electrolyzers for
H2
production, to engineering a drive solution for hydrogen compressors
in filling stations. The supplier plans to invest nearly $2.6 billion
between 2021 to 2026 in the development and manufacturing of hydrogen
technologies - with nearly two-thirds of that amount devoted
to the fuel-cell powertrain, Dr. Markus Heyn, chairman of the Mobility
Solutions business sector, said during the Tech Day presentation.
" Bosch is entering the hydrogen economy in earnest, " Heyn said. By
2030, the supplier expects sales in the area to reach roughly $5.3 billion.
One in five new trucks weighing six tons or more could feature a
fuel-cell powertrain by 2030, he said. " In addition, we are working on a
hydrogen engine that will be suitable above all for agricultural and
construction machinery, but also for heavy long-haul trucks. "
Bosch's plant in Bamberg, Germany, is supplying the Feuerbach
factory with the fuel-cell stacks, and system components such as the
electric air compressor and the recirculation blower come from its
Homburg, Germany, site. Feuerbach then assembles and tests the
complete system.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
economy as volume production
of its power module kicks off for Nikola's Class 8 fuel-cell truck.
by Ryan Gehm
FCPM production also has started in Chongqing,
China. The necessary components are supplied by
Bosch's plant in Wuxi. " Bosch is the first company to
produce these systems in both China and Germany, "
Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management,
Robert Bosch GmbH, said at the event.
Bosch also plans to manufacture stacks for mobile
applications in its U.S. plant in Anderson, South
Carolina, possibly as soon as 2026, according to Dr.
Alexander Klonczynski, VP manufacturing for fuel-cell
power modules. Also in the U.S., Nikola will receive
modules from Feuerbach, but it also expects to begin
Bosch FCPM assembly itself in Coolidge, Arizona, by
the end of this year. " This is a new business model for
us, " Klonczynski said, which could be used with other
customers in the future.
FCPM details
Bosch can deliver the complete FCPM or individual
components such as a hydrogen metering valve and
an electric air compressor that supply the fuel cells
with hydrogen and oxygen. " We have four production
orders for the complete system, and further orders for
our components, " Heyn said. " We are supplying truck
makers in China, the U.S. and Europe. Our system has
already clocked more than 2 million kilometers in pilot
operation at our customers. "
August 2023 19
SAE/RYAN GEHM
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2023

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