A long-running joke in the auto industry is that fuel cell vehicles are the technology of the future—and always will be. But that may not ring true a few years from now.
Ford, Renault-Nissan, and Daimler today said they will jointly develop technology to make “affordable, mass-market” fuel cell vehicles by 2017, investing equal amounts into the effort. This partnership follows a similar joint development deal between BMW and Toyota announced last week and commitments to fuel cell vehicles by Hyundai and Honda last year. (See, Hydrogen Cars: A Dream that Won’t Die.)
By collaborating on the fuel cell stack and other system components, Ford, Daimler and Renault-Nissan hope to improve the technology and produce at a large scale. With a higher production volume, these automakers will get to economies of scale and offer more affordable cars, says Daimler board member Thomas Weber.
Fuel cell vehicles, which convert stored hydrogen into electricity on board, are getting more serious commitments from automakers because of improvements in the cost and reliability of fuel cell stacks.
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