Ballard Sets New Standard for Automotive Fuel Cells
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--OCTOBER 26, 2001 - 08:03 EDT
Ballard Power Systems announced today
its most advanced fuel cell platform to date, the Mark 902.
Building on the success of the Mark 900 Series announced in
January 2000, the Mark 902 establishes a new standard of
performance by optimizing lower cost, design for volume
manufacture, reliability, power density and compatibility with
customer system requirements, once again affirming Ballard's
continued industry lead. The Mark 902 Series represents Ballard's
4th generation of transportation fuel cell platforms.
Designed to meet the rugged conditions of transportation
applications, the Mark 902 platform also allows configurations for
stationary power generation use, and is scalable from 10 kW to 300
kW depending upon customer requirements and applications. Typical
power output for transportation markets is 85 kW for passenger
vehicles and 300 kW for transit bus applications.
"Ballard has designed the Mark 902 with an overall approach that
considers core materials, volume manufacture processes and stack
performance in the context of a total fuel cell engine system,"
notes John Harris, Vice-President, Marketing of Ballard. "Having
met our goals on volume, weight and power requirements in our
previous Mark 700 Series announced in 1995, and extending that
performance and power density to practical, volume ready designs
and materials with the original Mark 900, we were determined to
improve system integration and reliability, and further reduce
costs with the new Mark 902. The Mark 902 platform strategy also
accommodates Ballard's technology roadmap program, allowing us to
incorporate even more advanced technologies that we are developing
in our laboratories as they mature."
Noteworthy among advances in the Mark 902 design are the unique
Ballard-designed flowfield plates. Developed over a 10-year
period, they are made from flexible graphite material supplied by
our strategic supplier Graftech Inc., and offer the merits of
excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, low cost and
compatibility with continuous process volume manufacture.
Furthermore, the unit cell design of the Mark 902 allows scalable
combinations to achieve a variety of power outputs. The Mark 900
Series unit cell architecture has achieved power densities well
over 2200 watts/liter, and provides great flexibility in designing
fuel cell stacks to meet customer performance and cost
requirements.
The first evaluation units of Ballard's Mark 902 have already been
delivered to customers. Orders for delivery of production units by
end of year 2001 have also been received. The Mark 902 platform
will power the buses in the 10-city European Union bus program
announced earlier this year.
Earlier Mark 900 Series technology has been demonstrated by
Ballard's customers in their vehicles, including DaimlerChrysler's
Necar 5, Ford's FCV, Honda's FCX-V4 and Nissan's Xterra FCV.
Harris also notes that "Ballard's ongoing leadership in the fuel
cell world is clearly represented in Ballard's new Mark 902.
Ballard is committed to providing its customers with the best in
terms of fuel cell technology and support. Ballard's expertise in
technology and materials, its capability to manufacture fuel cells
in its Vancouver-based manufacturing facility, its strategic
alliances with world-class partners, and Ballard's continuing
real-world operation of passenger vehicles, transit buses and
stationary and portable fuel cell power generation equipment
illustrate Ballard's start-to-finish commitment to making fuel
cells a commercial reality."
A demonstration of BALLARD(r) fuel cell technology at work, in
real-world operating conditions, will occur at the Michelin
Challenge Bibendum on October 26 - 28. The Michelin Challenge
Bibendum is a three-day event to showcase environmentally-friendly
vehicles. The event culminates in a day-long rally from Los
Angeles, CA to Las Vegas, NV. Of the seven fuel cell vehicles
participating in the rally, four will be powered by BALLARD(r)
fuel cells.
This release contains forward-looking statements that are based on
the beliefs of Ballard's management and reflect Ballard's current
expectations as contemplated under the Safe Harbor provisions of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When
used in this release, the words "estimate", "project", "believe",
"anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may",
"should", "will", the negative of these words or such other
variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the
current views of Ballard with respect to future events based on
currently available information and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements.
Ballard Power Systems is recognised as the world leader in
developing, manufacturing and marketing zero-emission proton
exchange membrane ("PEM") fuel cells for use in transportation,
electricity generation and portable power products. Ballard Power
Systems' proprietary fuel cell technology is enabling automobile,
electrical equipment and portable power product manufacturers to
develop environmentally clean products for sale. The fundamental
component of these end-user products is the BALLARD(r) fuel cell
that combines hydrogen (which can be obtained from methanol,
natural gas, petroleum or renewable sources) and oxygen (from air)
without combustion to generate electricity. Ballard is partnering
with strong, world-leading companies, including DaimlerChrysler,
Ford, ALSTOM and EBARA, to commercialise BALLARD(r) fuel cells.
Ballard has also supplied fuel cells to Honda, Nissan, Volkswagen,
Yamaha, Cinergy, Coleman Powermate and Matsushita Electric Works,
among others. Ballard Material Products, a subsidiary of Ballard
Power Systems, is a Tier 1 automotive supplier of friction
materials for power train components to General Motors and Borg
Warner, as well as a supplier of gas diffusion layer materials for
the fuel cell industry.
Ballard's common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange
under the trading symbol "BLD" and on the Nasdaq National Market
System under the symbol "BLDP." Ballard, the Ballard logo and
Power to Change the World are registered trademarks of Ballard
Power Systems Inc. |
