GM moves closer to fuel cell mass production

6 May 2002: General Motors has opened new 7,200 sq m facility to study the logistics and processes needed to manufacture fuel cells on a large scale, in place of the hand-built prototypes used today.

GM, which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on fuel cell research, expects to have market-ready fuel cells by mid-decade, with the first applications outside the automotive industry. The company is to install fuel cell backup-power units on cellular phone towers in California, to test their durability in harsh conditions.

The first fuel cell-powered GM cars and trucks for the retail market are not expected to arrive until about 2010.

Fuel cells use an electrochemical process to create electricity by mixing hydrogen and oxygen, with distilled water as the only byproduct. GM unveiled its vision of a future mass-market fuel cell vehicle, called the Autonomy, at the Detroit auto show in January.

A key part of creating a large-scale operation to manufacture fuel cells will be working with suppliers, so they know what materials to use and which parts of the fuel cell stack or fuel reformer they should work on.

May 2002