Fuel cell expert praises auto-makers

World authority on fuel cells, Professor Scott Samuelsen, has praised automobile manufacturers including Toyota for their work driving the development of the technology.

Speaking at the University of California Irvine (UCI) campus, Samuelson, Director of the US National Fuel Cell Research Center said automakers were doing the heavy lifting of commercialising fuel cell technology, decreasing costs and improving efficiency of the hydrogen based technology.

"There's no question the automobile companies are driving fuel cell technology," Samuelsen told motoring.com.au this week.

"There have been quite a number of research studies done by the US Department of Energy to bring down the amount of platinum [used in fuel cells] and bring down the cost of fuel cells. I don't believe that's the most effective use of our federal funds because the automobile companies, from a competitive point of view, are much more engaged in the research than any university or national laboratory would be," he stated.

Samuelsen is a world expert on fuel cells and co-developed modeling upon which California is planning the roll out of hydrogen fuelled auto infrastructure. His work also includes development of large scale fuel cell installations which generate electricity for the grid using hydrogen derived from sewerage and other bio sources.

Samuelsen is also an expert on the 'smart grid' of the future, electrical infrastructure within which fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FHEVs) will play an important part.

In conjunction with UCI, Toyota USA is playing an active part in funding the roll out of hydrogen fuelling stations in California. The US state has allocated $200m to build over 100 fuelling stations between now and 2020. Sixty are expected to be operating by the end of 2016.

The UCI professor says in addition to infrastructure, automakers are heading the charge on fuel cells.

"It goes back to these reasons – what I call forcing functions... [Specifically] In late 1980s realising petroleum was finite. They [automakers] realised more than any politician or any citizen that their future and the future of the automobile is this [fuel cell] future.

"It's the only business model that will [allow them to] survive as automobile production companies in years to come," Samuelsen said.

Toyota's first production FHEV, the FCV, went on sale in Japan this month. It will be sold in the US, German and UK markets from next year and is the first of at least three production FHEVs due to be released by the company between now and 2025.

In Japan the FCV is priced at ¥7m — around $73,000. In addition, purchasers are eligible for a government rebate of up to $30,000 (approx).

No US market pricing has been announced – that's expected to be revealed at November's Los Angeles Auto Show where the FCV will make its official public debut. Toyota says it is committed to scaled production of the vehicle but will not comment yet on potential annual production volumes.

But Samuelsen is upbeat regarding the success of automakers' FHEV forays.

"The proof is in the pudding. Not what our US Department of Energy has funded, but what you see being deployed today: by Hyundai last month; Toyota next year; Honda next year; Mercedes and so on...

"[The auto makers' development has] reached a cost of a fuel cell which allows... companies to commit to the commercial deployment at pricing that will be competitive with gasoline vehicles," he stated.

Key to the real world cost of fuel cells to date has been the amount of the precious metal platinum used. Now, Samuelsen says ongoing research from the automakers has pushed this concern to one side.

"The overall reduction of the amount of the catalyst [platinum] that's required and the options to [recycle it that are emerging], I think for all practical purposes, are removing that [cost loading] from being an issue  

"If you think about the platinum we use today for catalytic convertors and the fact the fuel cell removes the emissions which require the use of a catalytic convertor... It's a nice trade-off," he stated.