Fuel cell technology roadmap recognized by World New Energy Vehicle Conference

As the best solution for long-distance transportation of new energy vehicles, fuel cell vehicles are gradually becoming one of the key development directions of the automotive industry revolution. At the 2019 World New Energy Vehicle Conference held from July 1 to 3, the technical route of fuel cell vehicles once again received attention and recognition from many parties. People from all walks of life in government, industry, academia and research institutes conducted an in-depth discussion on the development trends of the entire industry chain from hydrogen energy supply, fuel cell technology to fuel cell vehicle applications, etc., and deeply discussed the integration technology of hydrogen energy and renewable energy, and the future realization of the entire industry chain of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles. A green, low-carbon, zero-emission approach.

Top-level design

From the perspective of my country's fuel cell industry policy, the period from 2006 to 2014 was in the promotion stage. The state only included hydrogen energy and fuel cells in the development plan, but did not issue subsidies or formulate plans. In the "Energy Development Strategic Action (2014-2020)" released in 2014, "hydrogen energy and fuel cells" were officially included as the strategic direction of energy technology innovation. In the "China Hydrogen Energy Industry Infrastructure Roadmap" formulated in 2016, the industrial planning goals are more detailed.

In recent years, the development of the hydrogen energy industry has gradually accelerated. my country has now formed seven major industrial clusters including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, central China, northwest, southwest, and northeast. my country is also the country with the largest number of commercial vehicles currently promoted. From 2016 to 2018, the cumulative sales of fuel cell vehicles reached 3,428 units, and commercial demonstration operations of fuel cells have been launched in Beijing, Zhangjiakou, Shanghai, Zhangjiagang, Weifang, Wuhan and other places. In each demonstration operation area, a hydrogen energy system integrating hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, transportation, refueling and commercial operations has been built.

Since 2016, commercial vehicles represented by buses and logistics vehicles have been put on the market one after another. The development of my country's hydrogen energy industry is about to enter the stage of commercialization and large-scale development. Carrying out corresponding top-level design will have strategic guiding significance for industrial development. At the 2019 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, the government paid great attention to the fuel cell industry.

State Councilor Wang Yong pointed out that China's automobile industry has entered a critical period of transformation and upgrading. It is necessary to vigorously promote the battery revolution, accelerate breakthroughs in core technologies such as next-generation lithium batteries, new system batteries and fuel cells, and greatly improve safety, reliability and stability. Strengthen scientific planning and guidance to further improve the development level of charging, hydrogenation and other facilities.

Wan Gang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, suggested actively promoting the industrialization of fuel cell vehicles. He believes that compared with transportation modes such as long-distance buses, intercity logistics, and long-distance transportation, fuel cell vehicles have the characteristics of clean zero emissions, long driving range, and short refueling time, and are the best choice to meet market demand. Although my country is rich in hydrogen energy, the industrialization speed of fuel cell vehicles is limited by infrastructure constraints. Therefore, the next step is to continue to strengthen the construction of the entire hydrogen energy system in areas with advantages in hydrogen energy.

According to the plan of "China's Hydrogen Industry Infrastructure Development Blue Book (2016)", my country will take the lead in realizing the large-scale promotion and application of hydrogen vehicles and hydrogenation stations by 2020, reaching 10,000 fuel cell transportation vehicles; by 2030, The number of fuel cell vehicles has reached 2 million. Regarding the future development path of new energy vehicles, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mentioned at the conference that the development of new energy vehicles industry development plan (2021-2035) should be compatible with the development of multiple technical routes.

Wang Xi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, made it clear that the Ministry of Science and Technology will focus on the research and development of commercial vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen storage, hydrogenation, and hydrogen production technologies based on the "13th Five-Year Plan".

Industry chain preparation

As the largest new energy vehicle company in China, SAIC Motor has made a comprehensive layout and continued efforts to develop new energy vehicles, focusing on breakthroughs in core technologies, especially in the forefront of the development of fuel cell vehicles in the country. Chen Zhixin, President of SAIC, emphasized that it is necessary to comprehensively accelerate the industrialization of fuel cells and plans to launch more new fuel cell products for high-end cars, light vehicles, heavy-duty buses, commercial trucks and commercial models in the future.

Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, said that BAIC will promote technological diversification, hydrogen fuel cell technology is in the spotlight, and commercial demonstration applications are ready to go. Beiqi Foton has obtained the country's first hydrogen fuel cell bus license and is also leading the industry in terms of the number of vehicles delivered and demonstration mileage. In particular, the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center led by BAIC to achieve innovative breakthroughs in diversified alternative fuel vehicle technologies is one of the core areas for the National Innovation Center to create a world-class new energy vehicle technology innovation highland.

According to Zhu Huarong, President of Changan Automobile, due to the many technical difficulties in matching multiple technical routes, companies must not only plan specific production capacity for different technical routes, but also reserve pure electric and hybrid vehicles while developing traditional fuel vehicles. , hydrogen fuel and other technologies, it is inevitable that they are overwhelmed, and costs and input-output are facing challenges.

With further policy support and accelerated technological breakthroughs, key domestic fuel cell components have also been domestically produced to varying degrees. According to Zhang Guoqiang, chairman of Yishuatong, Yishuatong has now formed a vertically integrated product research and development system from controllers, DCDC, hydrogen systems, fuel cell engines to development test benches. The fuel cell engine production line will reach 10,000 units by the end of this year, and the newly introduced stack proton membrane production line project is also expected to be put into production by the end of the year. In the 320th batch of new car announcements just released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are 89 fuel cell models and 23 models equipped with Yihuatong engines.

Giant layout

With the successive introduction of hydrogen energy industry plans in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, the construction of a global hydrogen energy society is becoming increasingly clear.

Li Hejun, vice president of Hyundai Motor Group (China), said at the conference that hydrogen energy is the most ideal new energy source for human society. Hyundai Motor has been developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology for many years and invested heavily, becoming the first company in the world to realize this A car company that commercializes hydrogen fuel cells and has successfully developed more than 100 core components. In 2018, the launch of the new generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicle NEXO explained to the world the development direction of environmentally friendly vehicles in the future. By 2030, Hyundai Motor's annual production and sales target of fuel cell vehicles will reach 500,000 units.

Shuji Yuda, technical director of Toyota Motor China Investment Co., Ltd., believes that hydrogen energy can be produced using a variety of energy sources and can achieve energy flexibility through the use of hydrogen. In 1992, Toyota began the research and development of fuel cell vehicles and also developed a fuel cell system. After 20 years of development, Toyota is working hard to reduce the cost of passenger cars and then focus on the R&D and manufacturing of commercial vehicles. This strategy will produce certain synergy effects and will be helpful to the deployment of hydrogen energy, especially the increase in infrastructure.

Volkswagen Group CEO Diess remains cautiously optimistic: "In the medium to long term, fuel cells or synthetic fuels will become more important, and they are especially suitable for electric vehicles with long cruising ranges." He believes that currently, regardless of fuel cells or synthetic fuels, they will become more important. Synthetic fuels, none are available at reasonable prices or on an industrial scale. In addition, new additional infrastructure must be established for fuel cell vehicles. Only if hydrogen becomes a surplus renewable energy source will this technology become a real alternative.

BMW Group R&D Director Fletcher Fletcher said that the BMW Group's strategic goal has always been to achieve a leadership position in technology and innovation in sustainable mobility, and hydrogen fuel cells are one of the six core areas. BMW's fuel cell technology will show greater advantages in light and heavy vehicles than in passenger cars.

bottleneck

Ouyang Minggao, co-chairman of the Science and Technology Committee of the World New Energy Vehicle Conference, professor of Tsinghua University, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced at the conference that China is a leading country in the promotion of fuel cell commercial vehicles. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 vehicles currently in operation, using fuel cell hybrids. Power technology is relatively successful. China’s current hydrogen production can fully meet the demand for hydrogen supply by 2035. “my country’s current by-product hydrogen and abandoned light, wind, and hydroelectric power are at least 5 million tons. Some people say it is 8 million tons or even 10 million tons. .”

Ouyang Minggao also said that fuel cell engine technology is oriented towards 2035 and can also meet the needs of large-scale applications, and will become mature in another five years. In recent years, China's fuel cells have made rapid progress. The entire industrial chain of membrane electrodes, stacks, and engines has been opened up, and global resources are gathering in China.

If the industry wants to develop, it still faces many problems and challenges. Ouyang Minggao believes that the bottleneck of the hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicle industry chain is not at the two ends, but in the middle, that is, hydrogen transportation under the vehicle, on-board hydrogen storage and hydrogen energy filling. Commercial vehicles are very sensitive to fuel costs and consume a lot of hydrogen, which means there are many on-board hydrogen bottles, which are the largest in the power system, the most sensitive to safety, and the highest cost. In addition, hydrogenation takes a long time to refuel a hydrogenation station and occupies a large area. Commercial vehicles are inherently large and require a safe distance, reducing the number of service vehicles at a single station to less than 1/3 of passenger vehicles.

Yi Baolian, a fuel cell veteran and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, made an in-depth analysis of the current shortcomings of my country's fuel cell vehicle technology and bottlenecks in industrialization development from the perspective of fuel cell vehicle industry and technology. He said that my country's fuel cell vehicles have now entered the market introduction stage and achieved gratifying results. Demonstration operations of fuel cell vehicles have been carried out nationwide, and the power density of fuel cells has been greatly improved. However, there is still a gap between the reliability and durability of my country's fuel cell systems and the international advanced level. In particular, the domestic production capacity of key fuel cell materials such as electrocatalysts, proton exchange membranes, and carbon paper is weak, which restricts industrial development. In view of the current development status of fuel cell vehicle technology in my country, Academician Yi Baolian proposed to improve the fuel cell industry chain as soon as possible and build localization capabilities for key fuel cell components such as carbon paper, proton exchange membranes, etc.; in terms of improving reliability and durability , it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the attenuation mechanism of the stack and develop new materials that are corrosion-resistant and stable.

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