Symbio to integrate fuel cells into Nissan electric vehicles

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Fuel Cells Bulletin

Symbio to integrate fuel cells into Nissan electric vehicles

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rench-based Symbio FCell has revealed a fuel cell integration plan for 5–7 seat Nissan electric vehicles, such as taxis, to provide zero-emissions mobility and cut air pollution in urban areas. It aims to bring the vehicle to the European market soon. Symbio unveiled its hydrogen fuel cell integrated into a Nissan electric minivan at the recent FC Expo 2017 in Tokyo, Japan, where it announced the new plug-in hybrid hydrogen FCEV will deliver at least 500 km (310 miles) of range. Symbio is confident that the fuel cell equipped vehicle will provide a key solution for zero-emissions mobility in urban areas. The e-NV200 vehicle, with a 15 kW PEM fuel cell range-extender to keep the battery pack charged, is a clean solution for taxis, aimed at the EU market. The customised vehicle offers taxi drivers a similar total cost of ownership to a hybrid vehicle, but with the range of an internal combustion engine. Thus, this vehicle could be used for intensive urban taxi operations or for online passenger transportation network services. It can be recharged from a low-cost power supply, and refueled with hydrogen in three minutes (3.8 kg of hydrogen at 700 bar). The customised e-NV200 will be available for series production from September 2018, and interested parties such as fleet managers can place pre-orders by contacting Symbio. Symbio’s partners and stakeholders Michelin and Engie were also present at the launch in Tokyo. ‘For two years, Michelin has had a 33% stake in Symbio [FCB, June 2014, p9]. We brought our expertise to the table, as well as robust production processes,’ says Valérie Bouillon-Delporte, Michelin’s strategic hydrogen initiative leader. And global energy supplier Engie has also taken steps to accelerate clean energy developments like hydrogen, including its investment last year in Symbio [October 2016, p10]. Symbio FCell has supplied 5 kW fuel cell range-extender systems installed in Renault Kangoo ZE-H2 utility vehicles for the French HyWay project [June 2015, p8], and has deployed 60 of these vans in the UK and France as part of the Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) project [February 2017, p1 and see the News Feature in October 2015].

Last summer Nissan unveiled an e-NV200 battery electric minivan as the world’s first solid oxide fuel cell powered vehicle running on bioethanol, using an SOFC unit developed in-house [September 2016, p3]. Symbio FCell, Grenoble, France. Tel: +33 1 5679 1506, www.symbiofcell.com

Toyota delivers first fuel cell bus in Tokyo, recalls all Mirai cars

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oyota Motor Corporation has delivered the first ‘Toyota FC Bus’ to the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This fuel cell bus will enter service this month on the Toei route, along with a second bus scheduled for delivery by the end of the month. But Toyota has also announced a recall of all 2800 Mirai fuel cell cars on the road, to fix problems with the fuel cell system output voltage. Toyota plans to introduce more than 100 fuel cell buses, mainly in the Tokyo area, ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics [FCB, January 2015, p1]. The buses have already undergone repeated field testing [October 2016, p1]. The increased use of fuel cell buses in urban areas is expected to help raise the level of understanding by the general public for their use for mass transportation [also see the News Feature on page 14]. The Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS), which was developed for the Mirai car [November 2014, p1], has been adopted to power the new buses, using two 114 kW stacks. The bus also offers a high-capacity external power supply system: with a power supply capable of 9 kW maximum output, and a large capacity electricity supply of 235 kWh (after DC/AC conversion), the bus can be used as a power source in the event of disasters, or it can be harnessed to power electrical appliances. Development and demonstration tests of the Toyota FC Bus were conducted under the Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Environment. It was then introduced under the low-carbon local transportation programme of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that Toyota is recalling all of its Mirai cars, to rectify problems with the output voltage generated

March 2017