Honda recently announced two new hydrogen projects including a fuel cell and a hydrogen combustion engine.
The automaker on Monday confirmed plans for a fuel-cell heavy-duty truck co-developed with Isuzu, which used to sell passenger cars in the US but has now largely retreated into the field. commercial vehicle sector. The two companies plan to show off a prototype next year, with a market launch in 2027.
While unconfirmed in the US, the project puts Honda in the ranks of automakers that have moved into selling fuel cell development. Toyota and Hyundai both recently announced plans to expand their plans to sell fuel cells to the United States, and General Motors by 2021 announced plans to build and support 2,000 fuel cell sales alongside truck maker Navistar. .
Fuel cell Hyundai Xcient
Two days after announcing the sale of fuel cells, Honda also announced a joint effort with other Japanese companies to research hydrogen combustion engines. While fuel cells use gaseous hydrogen to generate electricity to power engines, these engines simply ignite it instead of gasoline or liquid diesel.
Honda is working on hydrogen combustion with Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha for products in the “small mobility” field. The same four companies have also joined together on replace motorcycle batteryand represents half of the global motorcycle market.
Honda did not say whether the new partnership, dubbed HySE, will focus specifically on motorcycles, but a company press release said one area of research would involve motorcycles. fuel tank protection in smaller vehicles. According to Honda, engine performance and fuel delivery infrastructure will also be considered.
Concept Toyota Corolla Cross H2
For fuel cell-powered pickups, Honda is following in the footsteps of rival Toyota. Larger automakers already use and develop internal combustion engines hydrogen engine for sports carand went so far as to say it saw a Corolla Cross burn hydrogen as an EV alternative.
Hydrogen combustion has a number of potential pluses, including the ability to preserve existing internal combustion automotive designs, while avoiding the need for the expensive materials of current fuel cell compartments. . But hydrogen burning still produces exhaust gases—including nitrous oxide (NOx)—so this isn’t a huge benefit from an emissions standpoint.
In contrast, fuel cells have no “exhaust” emissions, and analysis shows that their carbon emissions can be reduced to suitably low levels if hydrogen produce from green source. Hydrogen supply will also be a factor in calculating overall emissions from a hydrogen-burning engine — with the exhaust then factored into that.
