GM, Honda join forces to mass produce fuel cell system
General Motors (GM) and Honda have entered into a joint venture to establish Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC (FCSM), an entity that is set to mass produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products from each company.
FCSM will be based in GM’s existing battery pack manufacturing facility site in Brownstown, Michigan, south of Detroit, according to a company release.
The mass production of fuel cell systems, expected to begin in 2020, would create approximately 100 new jobs.
The joint venture, which received a total $85 million worth of equal investments from the two carmakers, will be operated by a board of directors consisting of three executives from each company that will include a rotating chairperson.
“Over the past three years, engineers from Honda and GM have been working as one team with each company providing know-how from its unique expertise to create a compact and low-cost next-gen fuel cell system,” said Toshiaki Mikoshiba, chief operating officer of the North American Region for Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and president of Honda North America, Inc.
GM and Honda, which rank No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in total fuel cell patents filed in 2002 through 2015, have been also working to reduce manufacturing cost and further develop fuel cell infrastructure alongside governments and various stakeholders.
“With the next-generation fuel cell system, GM and Honda are making a dramatic step toward lower cost, higher-volume fuel cell systems,” said Charlie Freese, GM executive director of Global Fuel Cell Business.
Takashi Sekiguchi, managing officer and director and chief operating officer of Automotive Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., added, “Our collaboration is an opportunity to further utilize the strengths of each company to popularize fuel cell vehicles at the earliest possible time.”
