Honda this week supplied just a few extra particulars about its next-generation fuel-cell module, on the 2023 European Hydrogen Week in Brussels.
Co-developed with Normal Motors, the brand new module was first proven on the 2023 Tokyo auto present, and it has already been confirmed to be used in North America. Honda has already confirmed a Europe-bound power storage system that mixes renewable power with hydrogen. However that is the primary time Honda has mentioned different functions for Europe, together with passenger automobiles, business automobiles, development gear, and stationary energy era.
Honda next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell module – 2023 Tokyo auto present
Enhancements over earlier fuel-cell methods embody compact dimensions, in addition to fast startup occasions—even in low temperatures, Ingo Nyhues, deputy basic supervisor, Europe enterprise planning and growth, Honda Motor Europe, stated in an announcement.
This technique will make its debut for North America in a model of the Honda CR-V—set to be Ohio-built beginning in 2024. The hydrogen CR-V follows the Readability Gas Cell, which was launched with the last-generation fuel-cell stack from Honda, in 2017.
2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid
The subsequent-generation system can be on account of be deployed in a fuel-cell semi—in a venture with Isuzu. The 2 firms plan to begin demonstration runs of a prototype fuel-cell truck on public roads by the top of March, with a manufacturing mannequin following in 2027.
Honda accomplice GM has additionally emphasised plans to put gasoline cells into semis, collaborating with truck producer Navistar to construct a fleet of two,000 hydrogen semis. However not like Honda, GM has distanced itself from the thought of utilizing gasoline cell tech in passenger automobiles—one thing the U.S. automaker had labored on for many years.
Honda next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell module
Honda can be concerned in a venture exploring the chances for hydrogen inner combustion—for bikes particularly. This merely burns hydrogen in a combustion engine as an alternative of fossil fuels, whereas gasoline cells use hydrogen to generate electrical energy that powers electrical motors.
Whether or not it is gasoline cells or hydrogen combustion, restricted availability of hydrogen will probably stay an impediment. In accordance with the Division of Vitality (DOE), there are simply 59 U.S. hydrogen stations at current—with all however a type of publicly accessible. That follows a decades-long sample of deployment lagging the trade’s guarantees. Primarily based on trade commitments, the California Air Assets Board (CARB) in 2021 projected 100 retail hydrogen stations in operation by the top of 2023.