Editor’s note: The news here should be of interest to wind advocates because the hydrogen that will be consumed in fuel cells of the proposed electric vehicles will come from the cleanest sources when electrolyzed by wind or sun power.
Sumitomo Corporation together with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (collectively referred to as “SC Group”) announced today their Strategic Collaboration Agreement with US Hybrid to support their desire to grow its fuel cell production business through the expansion of fuel cell stack production capacity for commercial production. SC Group will play an integral role in the project by coordinating the discussions with OEM’s through their extensive business network.
The H2Cargo van is just one of several that US Hybrid has adapted to electric propulsion with hydrogen as its fuel.
US Hybrid, together with their Fuel Cell division, US FuelCell, has more than 26 years of experience in fuel cell balance-of-plant components and vehicle development and deployment. US FuelCell develops and manufactures new technologies and transportation products.
SC Group has studied hydrogen as a future clean energy source, including how fuel cell technologies can be applied to cars. In Japan the development of fuel cell technology has already been incorporated into passenger cars such as the Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity.
“Fuel cell vehicles offer high energy efficiency, no tailpipe emissions, and full vehicle capability, including the normal driving range, fast fueling and a potential path to sustainable transportation. We highly respect Japanese automakers as a leader in commercializing fuel cell passenger vehicles, and we consider our new freeze capable, fuel-cell powertrains a game-changer for the equally important market segments of medium and heavy duty trucks for freight movement and buses for public transit,” said Abas Goodarzi, President of US Hybrid.”
SC Group will also contribute to the partnership. “By bridging US Hybrid’s excellent technology and Sumitomo’s deep relationships with OEMs, we are excited to contribute to this project and realize the potential for using clean hydrogen energy in commercial transportation,” said Duke Kato, Senior Vice President at Sumitomo Corporation of Americas. “We view this partnership as an investment into the way mass transportation performs in the future, mitigating the negative impact on the environment.”
Through this research, SC Group has recognized the need to develop clean energy technology for greater infrastructure needs, specifically applying it to public transportation. Reaching this agreement with US Hybrid will be an important next step in developing this technology, whose fuel cell application to public transit had been evaluated as one of the closest to the commercialization through demonstration projects in California, Hawaii, Ohio, and Michigan. US Hybrid also marketed the first freeze-capable integrated fuel cell engine for medium and heavy-duty vehicles at the Hannover Messe Hydrogen and Fuel Cells and Batteries Fair this past April.
Since 1999, US Hybrid has provided electric and hybrid traction drive systems for medium and heavy duty commercial trucks, municipality vehicles, and fuel cell transit buses throughout the world. US Hybrid was founded in Torrance, California by Dr. Gordon Abas Goodarzi, Ph.D, P.E. a 30 year veteran of the electric, hybrid, and fuel cell industries. US Hybrid’s team of engineers has over 200 years of combined experience in electric and hybrid powertrain and energy storage systems.
US Hybrid’s products have been used in many OEM commercial vehicles worldwide, including transit systems and trucks with over one million accumulated kilometers of operation. US Hybrid’s 170 kW and 240-kW drive motors currently power monorails in Brazil and Malaysia, while US Hybrid’s 320-kW drives power heavy-duty mining equipment as well as Class 8 trucks. US Hybrid is the supplier for the New York Department of Sanitation Hybrid street sweepers and the New York Container Terminal hybrid port trucks and fuel cell vehicles for Hawaii Volcano National park, Hilo MTA and Ports of Los Angeles.
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