Global car and truck makers are exploring ways to share costs on new technologies as customers shun showrooms in areas hit by the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, denting profits.
“The common goal is for both companies to offer heavy-duty vehicles with fuel cells for demanding long-haul applications in series production in the second half of the decade,” Daimler and Volvo said today.
Development tests on the drive unit of the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL in Germany. The tests are held in freezing conditions with the drive unit tilted at different angles.
The joint venture agreed by the two companies will operate as an independent and autonomous entity, with Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group continuing to be competitors in all other areas of business, they said in a joint statement.
“Joining forces will decrease development costs for both companies and accelerate the market introduction of fuel cell systems in products used for heavy-duty transport and demanding long-haul applications,” the companies said.
The proton-exchange membrane fuel cell is structured like a sandwich. In the centre is a thin plastic film, the proton Eexchange membrane. This membrane is coated on both sides with a thin catalyst layer and a gas permeable electrode made of graphite paper. The membrane is surrounded by two bipolar plates into which gas ducts have been milled. Through these gas ducts flows hydrogen on the one side, and oxygen on the other. Several of these individual fuel cells can be stacked one behind the other to create a fuel cell stack, thus forming a powerful energy source to drive a vehicle.
Volvo will acquire 50% in the joint venture for around €500 million (RM2.4bil), they added.
Daimler Trucks will bring together all of Daimler’s fuel cell activities in a new fuel cell unit, including those of Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH. Automotive and non-automotive usage are also part of the new joint venture’s scope.
The preliminary agreement between the two companies is non-binding, with a final deal expected by the third quarter and closing before the end of 2020, the companies said.
