Daimler and Ford to pursue fuel cell venture

　　Daimler and Ford Motor have set up a joint venture to pursue development of emission-free fuel cells for cars and trucks as an alternative to petrol engines.

　　The two carmakers have given the partnership momentum by buying Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems' troubled automotive fuel cell business, including numerous patents and 150 employees.Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells emit only water vapour through their exhausts. Fuel cells are also far more energy-efficient than internal-combustion engines.

　　Buyt Casey Selecman, an analyst at CSM Worldwide, an automotive consultancy, cautioned that "there hasn't been a breakthrough technology yet to create the [required] economies of scale".

　　Daimler and Ford were previously shareholders in Ballard, which pioneered fuel cell development in the 1990s, but has struggled to come up with a commercially viable system for mass production.It has so far produced only about 130 cars, trucks and buses.

　　John Sheridan, chief executive, said the sale "lowers Ballard's risk profile by addressing the realities of the high cost and long timeline for automotive fuel cell commercialization".A Ford spokesman said that "we can move much more quickly this way".Daimler will own 50.1 per cent of the venture and Ford 30 per cent. Ballard will hold the remaining shares covered by a purchase or sale option agreement with Ford. Each of the three partners will contribute $60m to the venture.

　　With the decreasing of oil reservations, many countries are trying to introduce the technology into autos. Many global carmakers are also pressing ahead with fuel cell research as part of their drive for alternative propulsion technologies. Honda plans to reveal what it claims to be the first commercially available hydrogen fuel cell car at the Los Angeles auto show later this month. The car, with a 300-mile range on a full tank and a top speed of 100 miles an hour, will initially be sold in the US and Japan.

　　Daimler said yesterday that it expects fuel cell vehicles to be mass-produced, starting between 2012 and 2015. It plans to build a limited number of Mercedes Benz B-Class cars powered by fuel cells in 2010. Ford has a test fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus saloons on the road.BMW is pursuing technology that would use hydrogen as a fuel for internal combustion engines.

　　According to Mr Selecman: "The technology is getting better and costs are coming down, but it's still in the order of 100 times more expensive than an internal-combustion engine”  He added that plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, such as General Motors' Chevrolet Volt, are "definitely showing more promise than a fuel cell right now ".GM has pledged to put the Volt into production by 2010.

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