German auto supplier Bosch will invest almost 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in hydrogen fuel cell technology from 2021 to 2026 and expects to generate roughly 5 billion in sales by 2030, the company said on Thursday. The statement added that the planned investment is one billion euros more than the company had earmarked in its previous investment plan for 2021-2024. Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, in which hydrogen mixes with oxygen to produce water and energy to power a battery, can refuel in minutes and have a more extended range than battery-electric vehicles. They also produce zero local emissions.
Bosch says it wants to operate along the entire hydrogen value chain, from hydrogen production and supply to electrolytes, catalysts and fuel cells for hydrogen-powered cars and trucks. Bosch has already started producing its fuel cell power modules at plants in Germany and China, which assemble the components needed to create a complete fuel cell system.
A sophisticated electronic control unit, or ECU, is a key to fuel-cell system success. These powerful mini-computers manage a hydrogen fuel cell’s many functions and systems, ensuring it runs as reliably as a conventional gasoline or diesel engine. Bosch, which has already developed its ECUs for its gasoline and diesel engines, is now using this experience to develop such systems for fuel cell applications.
But for fuel-cell vehicles to become widespread, their steep manufacturing costs must come down. That’s why Bosch has teamed up with Swedish startup PowerCell Sweden to work on improving the manufacturing of fuel-cell stacks, which are the heart of a hydrogen powertrain. In a fuel-cell vehicle, the stacks of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), also known as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, convert hydrogen into electrical energy through an electrochemical process. A single stack only produces a small amount of energy, so engineers stack them together. Each new layer adds more power.
Bosch is investing over $200 million in a new line at its Anderson, South Carolina plant to produce these heavy-duty fuel-cell stacks. The company said the facility will start production in 2026 and employ 350 people. The stacks will be used in Nikola Tre and Nikola Two trucks, launched in the United States in the next few years. The companies reached a strategic agreement last year to see Bosch supply critical components for the Nikola trucks, which Nikola will assemble into power modules at its US plant. This “local for local” approach aims to lower the total cost of ownership of the vehicles, including purchasing fuel cells. This is a crucial aspect of making hydrogen-powered long-distance trucks viable for transporting goods.
