Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2024 - 4

TECHNICAL
INNOVATIONS
PROPULSION | MANUFACTURING
Fuel-cell production spurs supplier opportunities
An employee
assembles a
fuel-cell system
in the module
final assembly at
Fuel Cell System
Manufacturing
LLC, GM and
Honda's fuel-cell
joint venture in
Brownstown,
Michigan.
SAE INTERNATIONAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carla Bailo
President
Robert Ireland
2025 President
Todd Zarfos
2023 President
Christopher Payne
Vice President - Aerospace
Daniel Nicholson
Vice President - Automotive
Audley Brown
Vice President -
Commercial Vehicle
David Andrea
Treasurer
David L. Schutt, Ph.D
Chief Executive Officer
The head of General Motors' global fuel-cell
business is bullish about ongoing opportunities
for suppliers in the emerging hydrogen-power
space, as GM and partner Honda Motor Co. began
series production of their first fuel-cell
modules January 24 at a suburban Detroit plant.
The GM-Honda collaboration, launched in
2013, has a growing list of OEM customers for
its Hydrotec-branded modules in various power
ratings. Included are commercial truck makers
Autocar and Navistar and heavy mining
and construction equipment maker Komatsu
(see February issue). Honda itself confirmed an
initial run of 2,000 lower-power modules for
the 2024 CR-V.
" Going forward, we're always looking for
very capable automotive-type suppliers who
are willing to bring their know-how, " executive
director and veteran engineer Charlie Freese
told SAE Media during the Autoline After Hours
show (www.autoline.tv/after-hours/aah679-can-we-convince-you-fuel-cells-have-afuture/).
" There should be a lot of overlap with
the traditional automotive supply base in
where we're going with this. "
He revealed that the current " Gen-2 "
Hydrotec supply base is split " almost 50-50 percent "
among traditional auto suppliers and newcomers
from other industries. Some of the nontraditional
players hail from industrial films and
coatings - technologies critical for making the
4 April 2024
cells' polymeric membranes. In proton-exchange
membrane (PEM)-type fuel cells such as
Hydrotec, the thin membranes serve as electrolyte,
allowing protons to pass to the cathode
while restricting the passage of electrons.
Innovations and challenges
More traditional vendors have brought technologies
from turbocharging - fuel-cell operation
requires pressurized air - as well as technologies
proven in diesel aftertreatment. GM
and Honda have developed an automotiveinspired
stamping process to make the cells'
bi-polar plates with high accuracy, in high volume,
" similar to the way we make IC engine
cylinder-head gaskets, " Freese said.
Carbon fiber has been an ongoing challenge
for automakers to adopt in high volume for
mass-produced vehicles due to its high cost and
slow cycle times, and Freese noted the supplier
universe is small. " Some companies have done
carbon fiber in automotive, but until recently
they haven't been in propulsion systems, " he
said. The strong, mass-efficient material plays a
vital role in Hydrotec systems, both in the onboard
hydrogen storage tanks' structural integrity
and in the cell membranes' functionality.
" We had to develop the suppliers in that
[membrane] space, " he explained. A layer of
carbon fiber constitutes part of the electrode
membrane that goes into each cell. The layer is
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Judy Curran
Mary Lee Gambone
Joan Wills
Susan Ying, Ph.D
SAE International Sections
SAE International Sections are local
units comprised of 100 or more SAE
International Members in a defined
technical or geographic area. The purpose
of local Sections is to meet the technical,
developmental, and personal needs of the
SAE Members in a given area. For more
information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
SAE International
Collegiate Chapters
Collegiate Chapters are a way for SAE
International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
skills in a student-run and -elected
environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
SAE. While your course work teaches
you the engineering knowledge you
need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
Chapter can develop or enhance other
important skills, including leadership,
time management, project management,
communications, organization, planning,
delegation, budgeting, and finance. For
more information, please visit students.
sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
GM

http://www.sae.org/sections http://www.autoline.tv/after-hours/aah-679-can-we-convince-you-fuel-cells-have-a-future/ http://www.autoline.tv/after-hours/aah-679-can-we-convince-you-fuel-cells-have-a-future/ http://www.autoline.tv/after-hours/aah-679-can-we-convince-you-fuel-cells-have-a-future/ http://www.sae.org/chapters/collegiate/

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2024