Frankfurt/Main, Berlin – June 26, 2018. The “Autostack-Industrie” project is a joint initiative of the German automotive and supplier industry to create the technological and production technology preconditions required for the commercial introduction of fuel cell vehicles in Germany and Europe by around 2020. The aim of the project is to develop and share a stack technology for automotive applications based on manufacturing processes and procedures that meet the functional, qualitative and cost objectives of the automotive industry in industrial series production of stacks and components.

Underpinning this are common design and quality guidelines for components and stacks that aim to maximise economies of scale in development and production, and the common use of key components. An important aspect is the scaling up of stack performance for different vehicles and vehicle platforms. In a workshop being held in Frankfurt/ Main on 26 June 2018, the project partners will inform developers and suppliers about relevant aspects of component and stack design, important system interfaces and main components, the processes and development thereof required for mass production, as well as government funding opportunities, and provide an outlook on participation opportunities in development and production preparation within the framework of supplier management.

The project pursues a holistic approach encompassing all relevant aspects of component and stack design as well as the process development required for mass production. These include the continued optimisation of specifications and research & development work to improve the performance and service life of catalysts, GDLs, membrane electrode units, bipolar plates and stack design, as well as the development, testing and evaluation of manufacturing techniques at component and stack level and independent tests to verify the properties of the developed stack.

Uniform quality management is implemented at the project level for the development work. In addition, a utilisation concept for automotive application is being developed and further potential for other applications is being investigated, described and quantified in order to prepare the industrial implementation of the project results following project completion.

The “Autostack-Industrie” project receives funding of 21.3 million euros within the scope of the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). Project partners include BMW, Daimler, DANA, Ford, Freudenberg Performance Materials, Greenerity, NuCellSys, Powercell Sweden, Umicore, Volkswagen and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW – Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg).