General Motors Company has reportedly announced plans to make mobile power generators by using its Hydrotec-based hydrogen fuel cells.
The automaker intends to replace diesel-powered generators and polluting gas with zero-emission hydrogen-powered generators. As hydrogen is the universe’s most abundant element, automakers understand its importance as the industry tries to shift from polluting internal combustion engines.
Some automakers are making hydrogen-powered vehicles as potential alternatives to electric vehicles that use lithium-ion batteries. With this announcement, General Motors is establishing a position that looks beyond power generation and cars.
To start out, the hydrogen-powered generators will only be sold to military and commercial customers. However, GM plans to offer versions for residential purposes in the future. The automaker stated that these generators would be ideally used at outdoor concert venues owing to their lower noise profile in comparison to gas-powered power sources.
Additionally, the generators could be used for temporary EV chargers deployed at locations where there is low to mid-level demand for EV charging.
It is worth noting that hydrogen fuel cells have been in the development phase for decades. They use compressed hydrogen gas as their fuel and the cells only release water vapor. GM has condensed its Hydrotec system into a power cube that covers nearly 300 individual hydrogen fuel cells. The cubes can then be used in various applications like temporary EV chargers and mobile generators.
General Motors plans to offer these generators in various sizes for different uses. Each unit will generate power ranging from 60 kW to 600 kW depending on the use case and size.
In addition, the number of Hydrotec power cubes will also vary based on the application. For instance, the Mobile Power Generator of the company relies on one power cube whereas the Empower rapid chargers require eight power cubes.
Source credit:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/19/22891368/gm-hydrotec-hydrogen-fuel-cell-mobile-power-generators