GM, Daimlerchrysler in Fuel Cell Deals with US
Date: 31-May-05
Country: USA
Under the five-year program GM, the world's largest automaker, said it will spend $44 million to deploy fuel cell demonstration vehicles in Washington D.C., New York, California and Michigan.
The Department of Energy will contribute the other half of the investment in the program, under an agreement that expires in September 2009.
In a separate commercial agreement, Shell Hydrogen, LLC will support GM by setting up five hydrogen refueling stations in Washington, D.C., New York City, between Washington D.C. and New York and in California.
Separately, DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest automaker, said it would invest over $70 million in a so-called "outreach program" to increase public awareness about fuel cell vehicles and their potential to reduce US dependency on oil.
Through the five-year program, backed by the Energy Department and companies including BP DaimlerChrysler said it would place various models from its 100-strong fleet of fuel cell vehicles in customer hands to get feedback about their performance in real-world driving conditions.
Fuel cells release energy from the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen with a catalyst. Fuel cell vehicles emit only pure water vapor as an exhaust.
Analysts say widespread commercial development of the vehicles is still as a long way off, however. And as a fuel-efficient alternative to fuel cells, GM and DaimlerChrysler's US-based Chrysler unit recently announced an agreement to jointly develop gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
(Additional reporting by Edward Tobin in New York)
