Bloomberg
Automobile News
Wed, 3 Feb 1999, 12:07pm EST
BASF to Work With DaimlerChrysler, Ford Venture on Car Engines
Ludwigshafen, Germany, Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- BASF AG, Europe's biggest
chemicals maker, said it agreed to work with a joint venture of DaimlerChrysler
AG and Ford Motor Co. to develop methanol-based fuel-cell engines for
mass-produced automobiles by 2004.
BASF and dbb fuel cell engines GmbH of Stuttgart, Germany, agreed to develop
a catalytic system in which a chemical reaction will extract hydrogen from
methanol, using the hydrogen to fuel the engine. The partners didn't disclose any
financial details of their agreement.
The fuel-cell propulsion system is considered to be one of the best options
available to carmakers for replacing conventional internal-combustion engines,
BASF said, because such engines will be more efficient, use less fuel and
cause less pollution than traditional motors.
Generating hydrogen from methanol within the engine is considered more
practical than loading a car's fuel tanks directly with pure hydrogen, which is
difficult to handle because of its instability.
Alongside Ford and DaimlerChrysler, the third owner of dbb is Vancouver,
Canada-based Ballard Power Systems Inc., which specializes in developing
propulsion systems based on fuel-cell technology. BASF has worked with
Ballard and the former Daimler Benz AG in earlier stages of developing
methanol-based fuel-cell engines. dbb was established as a joint venture when
the partners decided such engines would be feasible for mass- produced
passenger cars, a dbb spokeswoman said.
Daimler Benz, which bought U.S. automaker Chrysler Corp. for $36 billion last
November, had previously announced it wanted to produce a fuel-cell engine by
2004.
BASF is the world's fourth-largest producer of methanol. Ford ranks as
worldwide No. 2 among carmakers, while DaimlerChrysler is the fifth-largest. |
