Honda-GM joint venture starts commerical production of hydrogen fuel cells

Honda and General Motors have begun commercial production of hydrogen fuel cell systems at their 50:50 joint venture Fuel Cell System Manufacturing (FCSM), located in Michigan, USA.

In a statement, FCSM president Suheb Haq commented: "GM and Honda are the first full fuel cell system manufacturing joint venture to begin volume production of fuel cells for transportation and beyond."

FCSM, set up in January 2017 at an investment of $85 million, is the auto industry's first joint venture formed to mass-produce hydrogen fuel cell systems. Both partners will use FCSM's output in their product applications and business ventures.

Honda and GM engineers began co-developing a fuel cell system in 2013. The two companies said they used the 2019 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell as reference, looking to double durability, while also lowering development and manufacturing costs by leveraging economies of scale and advancing cell design.

The new fuel cell systems, born from the collaboration, are expected to cost 66 percent less to manufacture than the 2019 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell.

Tetsuo Suzuki, Vice President, FCSM, said the company had integrated the strengths of both partners (Honda and GM) to create "the most capable production system".

Honda expects FCSM to record initial sales of 2,000 units per year before expanding uptake in stages.

Jay Joseph, vice president of sustainability and business development for American Honda Motor, said: "Our new fuel cell system is at the core of Honda hydrogen technology and our strategy to expand the range of applications that use hydrogen to facilitate the decarbonization of society."

"This is not simply a choice between battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell technology, but selecting the right energy source, in the right place, for the right purpose, to achieve carbon neutrality as quickly and efficiently as possible," he added.