In recent years, energy security issues and environmental pressures have become increasingly prominent, and countries around the world are vigorously promoting the development of new energy vehicles. Pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have developed rapidly due to their relatively simple technology. Compared with pure electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles have the characteristics of higher driving mileage and faster hydrogen refueling speed. It is one of the key directions for the industrialization development of various countries and leading car companies.
▌The commercialization of fuel cells continues to advance
Japan, the United States, Europe, South Korea and China are the promoters of the development of fuel cell vehicles, and have launched fuel cell vehicle support policies. According to their own energy development, countries have proposed fuel cell production, fuel cell vehicle planning, and hydrogen refueling stations for each stage. Specific targets such as the number of constructions.
There have been breakthroughs in the commercialization of fuel cells in various countries. Leading car companies have launched a variety of fuel cell vehicles with improved product performance. From 2013 to 2017, the cumulative sales of fuel cell passenger vehicles in the world were 6,475, of which 3,260 were sold in 2017. , an increase of 41% year-on-year;
From the perspective of regional distribution, the sales of fuel cell passenger vehicles are mainly concentrated in North America and Asia, accounting for 53% and 38% of sales respectively.
▌China: It is still in the early stage of development, and fuel cell commercial vehicles have become a breakthrough
The Chinese government strongly supports the development of new energy. my country’s policy support and financial subsidies for fuel cells have a long history. As early as September 2001, the “863 Electric Vehicle Major Science and Technology Special Plan” was launched, and the state allocated 880 million yuan. The core electric vehicle special matrix R&D system includes the research and development of fuel cell vehicles and fuel cell systems.
In recent years, with the breakthrough of hydrogen fuel cell technology, the rapid development of new energy vehicles, and the country’s increasing emphasis on clean energy.
my country has begun to increase its planning and support for the field of hydrogen fuel cells, and the introduction of policies has become more and more concentrated.
In particular, “Made in China 2025” proposes to further expand the operation scale of fuel cell vehicles, reaching an operating scale of 1,000 vehicles. By 2025, the supporting infrastructure such as hydrogen production and hydrogenation will be basically complete, and fuel cell vehicles will achieve small-scale operation in the region. It has raised the development of hydrogen fuel cells to a strategic level.
China’s fuel cell passenger vehicles are still in the test and verification stage, and commercial vehicles have become a breakthrough.
China has introduced a new energy vehicle subsidy policy, and when the electric vehicle subsidy is declining, the fuel cell vehicle subsidy will not decline, indicating strong support for fuel cell vehicles, but the development of fuel cell vehicles in China is still relatively slow.
At present, there are only concept cars for fuel cell passenger cars in China. SAIC Group launched the first domestic fuel cell passenger car, the Roewe 750FCV in April 2015, and the Roewe 950FCV in 2017, but they have not been mass-produced.
After years of research and development, China’s fuel cell commercial vehicles have entered the commercialization stage. Many car companies have launched fuel cell commercial vehicle products. In 2017, only 3 special vehicles and 19 passenger cars were listed in the “Catalogue of Recommended Models for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles”. In 2018, it increased to 26 special-purpose vehicles and 60 passenger vehicles. The number of special-purpose vehicles and passenger vehicles were respectively
It is 8.67 and 3.16 times that of 2017. Among them, Dongfeng Motor, Yutong Bus, and Sunlong Bus have become the top three car companies with 19, 14 and 12 vehicles respectively. In 2018, the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles in China were 1,527, including 1,418 fuel cell buses and 109 fuel cell trucks.
Some breakthroughs have been made in the research and development of fuel cell vehicles, and the infrastructure construction has yet to be improved.
After years of development, domestic hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research and development has made certain breakthroughs. On the one hand, the cruising range has been improved; on the other hand, the manufacturing cost of the complete vehicle has decreased.
In terms of infrastructure construction, as of 2018, China has a total of 25 hydrogen refueling stations (3 of which have been demolished), and many others are under construction, but most of them are only used for demonstration vehicles and have not yet been fully commercialized. operation.
The promotion of fuel cell vehicles has been strengthened.
In 2016, the “Technical Roadmap for Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicles” formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly stated:
In 2020, the demonstration application of 5,000 vehicles in the field of public service vehicles in specific areas will be realized, and 100 hydrogen refueling stations will be built; in 2025, the application of 50,000 vehicles will be realized, and 300 hydrogen refueling stations will be built; in 2030, one million hydrogen vehicles will be built. Commercial application of fuel cell vehicles, and 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations have been built.
In 2017, Shanghai took the lead in releasing the “Shanghai Fuel Cell Vehicle Development Plan”, which clearly stated that 5 to 10 hydrogen refueling stations will be built in 2020, and the demonstration operation scale will reach 3,000 vehicles; 50 hydrogen refueling stations will be built in 2025. The promotion of no less than 20,000 passenger cars and no less than 10,000 other special vehicles.
Leading car companies increase the layout of fuel cell vehicles
Leading car companies have launched a variety of fuel cell vehicles, with improved product performance.
Since the launch of the Hyundai ix35FCV and the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles, five fuel cell passenger vehicles have been mass-produced and launched. During this period, a number of car companies have launched fuel cell concept vehicles, including Audi and SAIC.
Comparing the performance of these models, there are different degrees of improvement in cruising range, acceleration from 100 kilometers, and motor power. For example, comparing the two models of Hyundai, ix35FCV and NEXOBlue, NEXOBlue’s cruising range, 100-kilometer acceleration, and motor power were improved respectively. 44%, 22%, 22%, and the hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers dropped by 33%.
Leading car companies increase the layout of fuel cell vehicles
At present, a number of international auto giants have announced product layout and sales plans. Among them, Toyota proposes to expand the annual sales of fuel cell vehicles to more than 30,000 units by 2020, and fuel cell vehicles and pure electric vehicles will account for 30% of the total sales by 2050;
Hyundai proposed to launch two hydrogen fuel cell models by 2020 (already realized), and plans to build two new factories in 2030 to produce 500,000 fuel cell electric vehicles and 700,000 fuel cell systems.
Some domestic car companies have included fuel cell vehicles in their development plans. According to relevant information, there are currently 13 domestic enterprises with the production qualification of fuel cell vehicles:
Yutong Bus, Foton Motor, SAIC Group, SAIC Maxus, Sunlong Bus, Zhongzhi Automobile, King Long Bus, Dongfeng, Feichi Bus, Aoxin, Nanjing Jinlong, Qingnian Automobile, Shudu Bus. At present, only 7 car companies have released development plans, which is still a few. However, the fuel cell commercial vehicles of car companies such as SAIC Maxus and Wuzhoulong have entered the stage of demonstration operation, and subsequent mass production can be expected.
Car companies have adopted a cooperative approach to promote the R&D and commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. There are two main partners of car companies: one is other leading car companies. BMW and Toyota, GM and Honda, Hyundai and Audi have successively cooperated to jointly develop fuel cell systems, hydrogen storage technology, and key components of fuel cells, etc. , to accelerate the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles.
The second is upstream and downstream companies in the industry chain. For example, Audi and Ballard have cooperated on fuel cell systems, and announced in June 2018 that the current contract for technological solutions will be extended by 3.5 years; Great Wall Motors acquired Shanghai Fuel Power. 51% of the equity, deploying fuel cell drive technology; Foton Motor and Yihuatong jointly develop fuel cell buses, and plan to indirectly subscribe for part of Yihuatong’s equity.
▌The fuel cell vehicle industry has a broad space
According to the plans for fuel cell vehicles by 2030 proposed by the governments of China, Japan and South Korea, we estimate that the number of fuel cell vehicles in Europe and the United States will reach 3.6 million and 3 million respectively in 2030. The cumulative sales volume is 10.3 million vehicles, and the market size exceeds 3.6 trillion yuan, of which the Chinese market size is about 350 billion yuan.
▌Industry chain sorting
The technological gap between domestic and foreign countries is gradually narrowing, and long-term development still needs to be taken into account
The fuel cell vehicle industry chain involves both hydrogen energy supply and fuel cell vehicles: hydrogen energy supply includes the entire process of hydrogen production, storage, transportation, filling and use; fuel cell vehicles include on-board hydrogen storage systems, fuel cell systems, New elements such as electric drive systems, vehicle control systems and auxiliary energy storage devices.
From the perspective of the entire industry chain, the promotion and application of fuel cell vehicles involves a wide range of areas, and there are high requirements for the vehicle itself, as well as for the preparation, storage, transportation, and application of hydrogen.
The coordinated development of the hydrogen production and hydrogenation industry is the basis for the promotion of fuel cell vehicles. Similar to the oil extraction-refining-oil transportation-gas station industrial chain of fuel-powered vehicles and the power generation-power transmission and distribution-charging pile industrial chain of electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles have a Hydrogen-hydrogen storage-hydrogen transport-hydrogen refueling station industry chain.
Hydrogen production:
Hydrogen production is the conversion of hydrogen in natural or synthetic compounds into hydrogen through chemical processes, mainly including coal gasification for hydrogen production, water electrolysis for hydrogen production, natural gas reformed gas for hydrogen production, methanol cracking for hydrogen production and other processes.
Globally, more than 96% of the main hydrogen production raw materials come from chemical reforming of traditional energy sources (48% from natural gas reforming, 30% from alcohol reforming, 18% from coke oven gas), and about 4% from electrolyte.
Comparing the costs of several major hydrogen production technologies, the lowest cost of coal gasification hydrogen production is $1.67/kg, while the highest cost of electrolysis water hydrogen production is about $5.2/kg.
Technological progress and economies of scale promote the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. Although the current cost of hydrogen production by water electrolysis is much higher than that of fossil fuels, the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels is unsustainable and cannot solve the fundamental contradiction between energy and the environment.
And the carbon emission is high, the carbon dioxide emission of coal gasification hydrogen production is as high as 193kg/GJ, and the natural gas reforming hydrogen production is also 69kg/GJ, which is not friendly to the environment.
The electrolysis of water for hydrogen production is sustainable and low-polluting. The carbon dioxide emission of this method does not exceed 30kg/GJ, which is much lower than that of coal gasification hydrogen production and natural gas reforming hydrogen production.
The cost of hydrogen production from electrolyzed water mainly comes from electricity price, investment in fixed assets, and production, operation and maintenance. Among them, electricity price is the main reason for the high cost of electrolyzed water. Therefore, the decrease in electricity price will inevitably bring about a substantial decrease in the cost of hydrogen.
At the same time, technological development and scale effects will reduce the cost of hydrogen. my country is rich in renewable energy, and the electricity generated by abandoning water and wind every year can be used for water electrolysis. my country has hydropower resources of 378 million kilowatts, with an annual power generation of 280 billion kilowatt hours.
my country’s wind resources are also very rich, and the available wind energy is about 253 million kwh. However, due to its unstable characteristics, wind power is difficult to access to the Internet, so the scale of power curtailment and power curtailment is huge every year. If this part of energy is fully utilized, it will be beneficial to the development of hydrogen production by electrolysis of water.
At present, the domestic hydrogen production industry needs to be further developed, and there are not many specialized hydrogen manufacturing enterprises.
From the perspective of regional distribution, the domestic hydrogen manufacturing industry develops rapidly in the eastern coastal areas and slow in the inland areas. The distribution of hydrogen production enterprises also has obvious geographical characteristics.
At present, the eastern coast of domestic hydrogen production enterprises is more inland than inland, among which Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Guangdong are the most concentrated, accounting for more than 60% of the country’s total hydrogen production.
hydrogen storage
Hydrogen has a very high mass energy density, but a very low volume energy density. It must be stored in the form of compression during use. Therefore, its storage device must meet the requirements of high pressure resistance, high strength and air tightness.
The storage of hydrogen mainly includes high-pressure gas storage, solid hydride storage, low-temperature liquid hydrogen storage, etc. Correspondingly, its transportation methods mainly include vehicle and ship transportation and pipeline transportation.
In terms of on-board hydrogen storage, the hydrogen storage tanks mounted on fuel cell vehicles in Japan, Europe and the United States are currently under pressure of 70MPa.
Based on this hydrogen storage technology, the driving range of fuel cell vehicles has reached the level of traditional vehicles, and the hydrogenation time is within 5 minutes.
hydrogen refueling station
In terms of hydrogen energy application, the construction of hydrogen refueling stations and other infrastructure is the focus of future development. As of the end of 2018, there were 369 hydrogen refueling stations worldwide.
Among them, 152 are in Europe, 136 in Asia and 78 in North America. But of the total 369 hydrogen refueling stations, only 273 are public hydrogen refueling stations, available to all. The remaining gas stations are reserved for closed user groups and supply buses or fleet vehicles.
The current construction cost of a new hydrogen refueling station is around $2-5 million.
The investment in the construction of a medium-sized hydrogen refueling station in Japan is 5 to 5.5 million US dollars; in the United States, it requires 2.8 to 3.5 million US dollars.
Compared with foreign countries, building a hydrogen refueling station in China has cost advantages, and the investment in building a hydrogen refueling station (35Mpa) in China is between 2 million and 2.5 million US dollars.
With the increase in the number of hydrogen refueling stations constructed, scale effects are bound to occur, and the construction cost of hydrogen refueling stations will be effectively reduced.
As of December 2018, China had a total of 25 hydrogen refueling stations (3 of which have been demolished), mainly in areas with relatively developed economies and an automotive industry foundation, and areas where local governments are willing to implement the conversion of old and new kinetic energy. At present, 80% of the hydrogen refueling stations are concentrated in the five provinces of Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei and Liaoning.
The overall development of the hydrogen production and hydrogenation industry is the basis for the promotion of fuel cell vehicles.
Developed countries in Europe, America, Japan and South Korea all place hydrogen production and hydrogen refueling station construction in strategic development, location priority development, and concentrated advantageous development positions.
Concentrate the national strength to develop the hydrogen energy industry and do demonstration and promotion, so as to ensure that the infrastructure for the application and promotion of the hydrogen energy fuel cell industry is supported.
At present, there are many subjects in the construction of hydrogen refueling stations in my country, and there is a lack of national overall planning and policy supporting measures.
Hydrogen refueling stations are public utilities. Currently, there is a lack of supervision and management in project site selection, planning management, and safe operation.
In addition, the hydrogen refueling station has a huge investment, and at the same time, centralized large-scale scientific management is required to reduce construction and operation costs and ensure safe operation.
▌The domestic fuel cell industry chain tends to be perfected, and the technological gap between domestic and foreign is gradually narrowed
Fuel cells: reducing costs and improving life are the development directions
The fuel cell is the heart of the fuel cell vehicle, and its importance is equal to the engine of the fuel vehicle and the power battery of the electric vehicle.
The fuel cell is a power generation device that directly converts the chemical energy in the fuel into electrical energy through an electrochemical reaction. The circuit does work, and the reaction product is water.
A single fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), a bipolar plate, and a sealing element.
The membrane electrode assembly is the core component of the electrochemical reaction, which is composed of cathode and anode, porous gas diffusion electrode and electrolyte separator.
Under rated operating conditions, the working voltage of a single cell is only about 0.7V. In practical applications, to meet certain power requirements, a fuel cell stack or module is usually composed of hundreds of single cells.
Therefore, as with other chemical power sources, uniformity between cells in a fuel cell stack is very important.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells have the most applications, accounting for 73.35% of shipments. By electrolyte classification, fuel cells generally include proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), alkaline fuel cells (AFC), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) Wait.
Among them, proton exchange membrane fuel cells have become the most widely used fuel cells due to their low operating temperature, fast start-up time, and mild operating conditions. E4tech is based on data from January to October 2018. Fuel cell shipments were 589.1MW, accounting for 73.35%.
Fuel cells have fast hydrogen charging speed, high hydrogen calorific value and high safety, but their power systems are complex, their lifespan is short, and the technology is not yet mature.
Comparing the three power devices of engine, ternary power battery and fuel cell, in terms of fuel working mode, fuel cell is similar to engine, its fuel is carried outside the battery, while the active material of power battery is encapsulated inside the battery, fuel The hydrogen used in the battery can be recharged like gasoline in a petrol car, and it only takes a few minutes;
From the perspective of the power system composition, the ternary battery is relatively simple, while the power system of the engine and the fuel cell is more complex, requiring the cooperation of multiple systems to function together. The fuel cell power generation system includes the fuel supply subsystem in addition to the fuel cell stack. , Oxidant supply subsystem, water and heat management subsystem and electrical management and control subsystem, etc.;
In terms of calorific value, the calorific value of hydrogen is very high, more than three times that of gasoline, and its energy density is much higher than that of ternary batteries; from the perspective of safety, the safety of engines and fuel cells is higher than that of ternary batteries; but fuel The battery life is relatively short, and the technology is still immature, and there is still a long way to go before commercialization.
Global fuel cell shipments continued to grow, and transportation applications became the main growth force for fuel cells.
The global fuel cell shipments have basically maintained a growth trend (a year-on-year decrease in 2014 or due to different data sources). Based on the data from January to October 2018, E4tech estimates that the total shipments of fuel cells in 2018 will be 74,300 units, corresponding to power The scale is 803.1MW, of which the shipment for transportation is 562.6MW, a year-on-year increase of 29.13%, accounting for 70.1%;
In terms of the number of systems, the proportion of fuel cell shipments for transportation has also gradually increased, and transportation has become the main force for fuel cell growth.
Cost remains a major challenge for the commercialization of fuel cells. According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), the cost of fuel cells has dropped by 60% in the past decade, and the annual production level of fuel cell systems is 500,000 units/year, 100,000 units/year and 1,000 units/year unit cost in 2017 They are $45/kW, $50/kW, and $180/kW, respectively, while the unit cost of fuel cell systems for fuel cell vehicles reaches $230/kW (annual production level is 1,000 units/year). The annual output of fuel cell manufacturers has not yet reached 100,000 units per year, so the cost is still at a high level.
The goal set by the US Department of Energy is to reduce the unit cost of fuel cell systems to $40/kW by 2025 (annual production level of 500,000 units/year), and eventually to $30/kW; while my country’s goal is to reach $30/kW by 2030 The annual system cost is less than 200 yuan/kW.
Proton Exchange Membranes: The Heart of Fuel Cells
The proton exchange membrane is the core component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC).
The current mainstream trend of proton exchange membranes is perfluorosulfonic acid-enhanced composite membranes. The proton exchange membranes gradually tend to be thinner, from tens of microns to tens of microns, reducing the ohmic polarization of proton transfer to achieve higher performance.
The development of CCM-type thin catalytic layer membrane electrodes with low platinum and high reaction efficiency is an important technical direction for the development of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Foreign companies include Gore, Chemours, 3M in the United States, and Asahi Kasei in Japan. Only Shandong Dongyue can supply in batches in China. The products of Shandong Dongyue have entered the supply chain system of Mercedes-Benz.
catalyst
The development of low-platinum or non-platinum catalysts is an effective way to reduce costs. Reducing the content of platinum in catalysts or developing non-platinum catalysts is the future development direction.
Catalyst is one of the key materials of fuel cells. In the cost of proton exchange membrane fuel cell system, the cost of the stack accounts for the highest, reaching about 60%, which is the source of electric energy for fuel cells; and in the cost composition of the stack, The cost of the catalyst accounts for the highest proportion, as high as 41% at the annual production level of 500,000 units/year.
Therefore, reducing the cost of catalysts is the key to reducing the cost of fuel cells, and the commonly used commercial catalysts are Pt/C, although the amount of Pt has dropped from 0.8~1.0gPt·kW-1 10 years ago to 0.3~0.5gPt·kW-1 now kW-1, but the content is still high; Pt catalysts are not only limited by cost and resources, but also have stability problems, and Pt catalysts will decay under the operating conditions of fuel cells.
Therefore, reducing the content of Pt in the catalyst or researching new high-stability, high-activity low-Pt or non-Pt catalysts to reduce the cost of catalysts and improve the life of fuel cells is the future development direction of fuel cells.
Foreign manufacturers of fuel cell catalysts mainly include JohnsonMatthery in the UK, BASF in Germany, Tanaka in Japan, Nisshinbo in Japan, Umicore in Belgium, etc. In China, there are Guiyan Platinum, Wuhan Himalaya, Zhongke Zhongchuang, Suzhou Qingdong Power, and Kunshan Sunlight. Wait.
Diffusion layer: domestic production is still subject to technical bottlenecks
The main function of the diffusion layer is to provide a transmission channel for the gas participating in the reaction and the generated water, and to support the catalyst.
The diffusion layer is composed of a base layer and a microporous layer. Most of the base layer materials are porous carbon paper or carbon cloth. The microporous layer is usually composed of conductive carbon black and water repellent. Large-scale production of diffusion layers will bring significant cost reductions.
According to DOE data, in 2017, the cost of every 100,000 sets of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems produced was $50/kW, of which the diffusion layer accounted for 9%; the cost of every 500,000 sets of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems produced was $45/kW, of which diffusion Layers account for 6%.
At present, there are few carbon paper/carbon cloth manufacturers in the world, and the main suppliers are Toray of Japan, SGL Group of Germany, JSR of Japan, Ballard of Canada, Carbon Energy and so on.
Toray occupies a large market share, and my country’s research and development of carbon paper is mainly concentrated in universities such as Central South University and Wuhan University of Technology.
The mass production technology of gas diffusion layers in mainland China is still blank. The main reason is that the graphitization process of gas diffusion layers requires high temperatures above 2000°C, but the high-temperature furnace technology has not yet been mastered.
Membrane electrode: reducing cost and increasing service life is the technical direction
The most important component inside the fuel cell unit is the membrane electrode, which is the key core component of fuel cell power generation and determines the upper limit of stack performance, life and cost.
The membrane electrode is composed of a proton exchange membrane, a catalyst and a diffusion layer, which together with the bipolar plates on both sides constitute the basic unit of the fuel cell.
In practical applications, multiple single cells are combined into a fuel cell stack to meet the needs of different power outputs.
Membrane electrodes have strict requirements in terms of cost and life. Reducing the amount of platinum used can greatly reduce the cost, but the reaction efficiency of the fuel cell will also be greatly reduced.
The catalytic layer is not uniformly applied to the membrane, and gas leakage occurs after more than a few thousand hours, reducing the life of the fuel cell.
The major manufacturers of membrane electrodes are 3M, DuPont (Chemours), GORE, Johnson Matthey, Ballard, Greenerity and others. 3M is the company with the top 20% market share, followed by DuPont (Chemours) with 16% market share.
The domestic supplier of membrane electrodes is mainly Wuhan University of Technology New Energy, and its products are mainly supplied to PlugPower Company in the United States.
Dalian Xinyuan’s membrane electrode products are mainly used for SAIC engines. The performance of domestic membrane electrodes is close to the international level, but there is still a certain gap between the performance of professional characteristics such as platinum loading and the international level.
Bipolar plate: graphite and metal are needed
The bipolar plate is another core component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell besides the proton exchange membrane, accounting for 60% of the weight and 20% of the cost of the entire fuel cell. It collects conduction current, separates oxidants and reductants, and supports cells. Its performance directly affects the output power and service life of the battery.
Bipolar plate materials are currently mainly graphite bipolar plates and metal bipolar plates. Passenger cars such as Toyota Mirai, Honda Clarity and Hyundai NEXO all use metal bipolar plates, while commercial vehicles generally use graphite bipolar plates.
Due to the special working environment of fuel cells, bipolar plates are required to have high electrical conductivity, strong corrosion resistance and hydrophobicity, as well as high mechanical strength, high gas barrier capability, low cost, and easy processing.
The mainstream suppliers of graphite-based bipolar plates include American POCO, American SHF, American Graftech, etc.
Graphite bipolar plates have been localized, and domestic manufacturers mainly include Shanghai Shenli, Shanghai Hongfeng and other companies.
The main suppliers of foreign metal bipolar plates include Sweden Cellimpact, Germany Dana, Germany Grabener, and American treadstone.
In China, it is still in the R&D and trial production stage. Companies such as Shanghai Youge, Shanghai Zhizhen New Energy, and Xinyuan Power have developed metal bipolar plates for automotive fuel cells, and have tried to apply them in stacks and vehicles.
The research and development of composite bipolar plates is still relatively small, and only companies such as Dalian Xinyuan Power and Wuhan Himalaya are involved in China.
Electric stack: China is still in the stage of technical verification
The midstream of the fuel cell industry chain is to assemble upstream materials and components and integrate them into the fuel cell system.
Most foreign passenger car manufacturers develop their own stacks, and there are also a few passenger car companies that use partner stacks to develop engines, such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
At present, the well-known foreign companies that can independently supply vehicle fuel cell stacks mainly include Ballard and Hydrogenics in Canada. Most of the fuel cell buses operating in Europe and the United States use the graphite plate stack products of these two companies.
The domestic companies that produce stacks mainly include Dalian Xinyuan Power and Shanghai Shenli. Dalian Xinyuan Power adopts the technical route of metal plates and composite plates, and cooperates with SAIC to develop the Roewe 950 passenger car and SAIC V80 passenger car.
Shanghai Shenli was established in 1998. It is a professional fuel cell stack R&D and production enterprise. At present, both of them have built fuel cell stack pilot lines and are in the critical stage of transformation from small batches to industrialization.
In addition, some emerging fuel cell stack companies, such as Forsey, Beijing Hydrogen Pu, Wuhan Zhongyu, etc., have also developed fuel cell stack prototypes and production lines, which are in the verification stage.
