GM takes stake in Impco unit for fuel cell work
6/12/01 11:50 AM
Source: Reuters
DETROIT, June 12 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. announced a joint venture Tuesday with IMPCO Technologies Inc., an alternative-fuel technology specialist, that it said would reinforce its bid to become the world's largest builder of vehicles powered by fuel cells.
GM said it was taking a substantial minority stake in the QUANTUM Technologies division of IMPCO to help develop ways of storing hydrogen gas in vehicles driven by fuel cells, which use hydrogen to create power with no dangerous emissions.
No terms of the deal were disclosed. Shares in IMPCO were up $2.88 at $39.90 in trading Tuesday on the NASDAQ. GM's shares were down 23 cents at $58.91 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
GM and other automakers have invested billions of dollars in fuel cell research, even though the technology is years away from practical use. Several technical problems remain unsolved, especially with handling and storing hydrogen, which is several times more flammable than gasoline and burns without a flame.
Despite those problems, GM has said it expects to offer its first fuel cell vehicle for sale to the retail public by the end of the decade, and has set a goal of becoming the first automaker to sell one million fuel cell vehicles.
"This agreement will enable our two companies to work together on bringing fuel-cell vehicles to the market," said Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development. "It is a logical next step on the long road to a hydrogen-based economy."
THE LONG HAUL
Fuel cells use an electrochemical process to create electricity by mixing hydrogen and oxygen, with distilled water as the only byproduct, avoiding the noxious gases that other power sources emit.
With governments and environmentalists pressuring automakers to reduce pollution created by their products, fuel cells are seen as the ultimate solution.
GM said QUANTUM would help it extend the range of fuel-cell vehicles. To gain range between refuelings, fuel-cell vehicles will have to store compressed hydrogen gas at high pressure.
The automaker said QUANTUM had designed a system that could give fuel-cell vehicles a range equal to or greater than conventional cars and trucks, a key for gaining customer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles.
The automaker is also collaborating with rival Toyota Motor Corp. and oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on fuel cell research. |
