New Energies, new possibilities

The high-performance design is meant for zero-emission hydrogen powered vehicle applications.

Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, has announced that its new E-45 fuel cell engine is now commercially available. The company provides fuel cell power solutions for vehicle applications.

This engine is the latest addition to the complete Nuvera product line can be seamlessly integrated.

The new Nuvera E-45 fuel cell engine has been designed to be seamlessly integrated into commercial medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. Possible applications include buses and electric delivery vans as well as Class 8 vehicles such as long-haul trucks, yard tractors and even port container handling equipment.

This new solution can provide a vehicle with its primary power or can be used in a hybrid format with batteries in order to extend the range of electric vehicles and offer high-performance powertrain electrifications.

Nuvera worked with project partners such as Hyster-Yale Group to incorporate the new E-45s into a Hyster top-loading container handler. This equipment will begin its operation later in 2020 at the Port of Los Angeles. The company is also currently working on developing a fuel cell transit bus platform in China.

The goal for the E-45 fuel cell engine is to be flexible enough to suit a spectrum of mobility markets.

“Our strategy for the E-45 fuel cell engine was to design a system that meets the needs of multiple mobility markets, and easily incorporates into existing electric vehicle platforms, taking maximum advantage of our unique core stack technology,” said Nuvera fuel cell engine product manager Matt Weig.

This new product features a patented control logic for optimized operation in addition to its own fully integrated compressor. The company’s fuel cell stack technology brings uncoated metal plates into an open flow field architecture. This design makes it possible for the outcome to be compact, durable, and operate at a low cost.

The E-45 fuel cell engine is manufactured at the Nuvera headquarters, which is located in Billerica, Massachusetts. That said, the company aims to expand its manufacturing to China, particularly for

The goal for the E-45 fuel cell engine is to be flexible enough to suit a spectrum of mobility markets.

“Our strategy for the E-45 fuel cell engine was to design a system that meets the needs of multiple mobility markets, and easily incorporates into existing electric vehicle platforms, taking maximum advantage of our unique core stack technology,” said Nuvera fuel cell engine product manager Matt Weig.

This new product features a patented control logic for optimized operation in addition to its own fully integrated compressor. The company’s fuel cell stack technology brings uncoated metal plates into an open flow field architecture. This design makes it possible for the outcome to be compact, durable, and operate at a low cost.

On October 20, 2020, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) introduced in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives the Zero-Emission Vehicles At of 2020 (the Act). The Act would amend Part A of Title II of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to create a federal national zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) standard and address climate change by ending U.S. sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles in 2035. Senator Merkley and Representative Levin’s standard aims to boost the market for battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Sponsored by four other Senators and an additional 15 Representatives, the ZEV standard has also been criticized by conservatives and biofuels industry stakeholders. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stated that Iowans should not “allow coastal state lawmakers to dictate to Middle America how to live [their] lives or take away the freedom to choose what kind of car to buy.”

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/senator-merkley-and-representative-13827/

Beijing (PingWest)- China’s State Council said the share of New Energy Vehicles, which includes electric, plug in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, will account for 20% of total new car sales in China by 2025 and account for the majority of sales by 2035.

“Pure electric vehicles will contribute large part of new vehicles sold in China, public sector vehicles will be fully electric, fuel cell vehicles will be commercially available, and highly automated driving vehicles will be applied on a large scale, effectively promoting energy conservation and emission reduction and improving social operational efficiency,” China’s State Council said in a statement.

The current share of new energy vehicles only account for 5% of total car sale in China, the ambitious target was aligned with goal stated in Made in China 2025.

The state council also said the Chinese government will improve the green car quota system to guide automakers to make more clean energy vehicles, it also stated that the governments want to strengthen innovations to improve the industry’s infrastructure of key components such as power batteries, power charging and battery replacing facilities. while promoting a coordinated development of electric, network and intelligent technologies.

China’s New Energy car sales grew 5.1% to 1.06 million units last year, accounting for less than 5 per cent of total new passenger car sales, according to data by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). In the first nine months of 2020, NEV sales declined 19.3% to 601,000 units from the same period last year.

Banning the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is not a new concept in countries and municipalities outside of the US. Beginning in 2016, European countries and cities began to make commitments to ban the future sale of ICE vehicles. Countries like France, Norway, and the UK have all set dates for these bans, with Norway’s being the most bullish—all new car sales must be zero emissions (battery EV or fuel cell) by 2025. Several cities within Europe have announced similar bans on ICE vehicles, including Rome and Milan, which ban ICE vehicles from entering certain parts of the city.

In late September 2020, California governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will phase out the sale of new gasoline and diesel-powered cars to reduce California’s demand for fossil fuels—the first policy of this kind in the US. The executive order requires that all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California be zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) are included under current ZEV mandate definitions, but what the exact 2035 regulation will include in terms of powertrains is not yet Other US states like Washington and Hawaii are already considering ICE bans—and more aggressive bans at that—with goals of no ICE vehicle sales by 2030. While these bans have not passed yet, news of California’s ban could spur these states to pass the policies. Furthermore, states currently following California’s ZEV mandates (via California’s waiver from the Clean Air Act) could opt to follow California’s lead in passing ICE bans.

Automakers should ramp up PEV availability in California or risk losing market share come 2035 when the ban takes effect. Automakers committed to even partial electric lineups, such as Volvo, may have an early advantage as other automakers race to meet their announced PEV production dates. California accounts for around 12% of total US light duty vehicle sales. The production changes necessary for automakers to provide enough vehicles to California may encourage them to offer more PEV models in other US states—particularly ZEV states.

Of course, the California ICE ban does not come without criticism. Some believe that California’s ban should be more aggressive, given that the state’s proportion of transportation emissions relative to total emissions is higher than the national proportion. (Transportation accounts for 28% of US emissions but 41% of California emissions.) However, given the availability of PEVs and announced PEVs, even in California, a ban earlier than 2030 is not likely to be successful.

Others believe the ICE ban may have negative impacts on California’s already troubled grid by adding a significant amount of electric load. However, PEVs can be an asset to the grid as it shifts away from fossil fuels and toward more variable renewable energy assets such as wind and solar. In times of low electric capacity or grid operation errors, PEVs can be used as storage that feeds battery charge back into the grid via vehicle-to-grid technology. Using PEVs as a grid asset will require coordination between utilities and fleet operators of PEVs, not just with individual owners of PEVs.

Banning ICEs will move the PEV market forward and significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions from a key contributing sector, particularly if other states follow California’s lead. As a result, automakers will be forced to ramp up PEV production or risk losing market share to automakers who already have a significant PEV lineup.

Summary

Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) find applications not only in fuel cells and sensors but as chemical filters and in biological systems. In particular, the Nafion (Chemours Company) PEM, which consists of sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene–based fluoropolymer-copolymer, is widely used in practical electrochemical processes. It has a high proton conductivity up to 0.2 S/cm below 80°C and high relative humidity (RH) (>93%) (1), but its conductivity drops severely at higher temperatures or at low RH (below 50%). On page 596 of this issue, Qian et al. (2) report a new class of proton membranes assembled from two-dimensional (2D) layered transition-metal phosphorus trichalcogenide (TMPTC) nanosheets in which metal vacancies boost ion conductivity. These membranes exhibit a proton conductivity of ∼0.95 S/cm at 90°C and 98% RH but still have a conductivity of 0.26 S/cm even at 60% RH.

http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse