General Motors and Honda team up to make hydrogen fuel cells for 'a variety of products'

General Motors and Honda announced that their joint venture, FCSM, has begun production of hydrogen fuel cells that will eventually be used in "a variety of product applications." Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen as fuel and the only emission is water vapor. Recently, many automakers have used this technology to their advantage when developing heavy-duty vehicles and mobile generators, and as a way to further phase out polluting gas-fired vehicles.

FCSM, short for "Fuel Cell System Manufacturing," was established in 2017 as a joint venture between General Motors and Honda. The two automakers have also collaborated on battery electric vehicles, including the Honda Prologue, Acura ZDX and Cruise Origin.

FCSM's 70,000-square-foot plant in Brownstown, Michigan, was built with a joint investment of $83 million from General Motors and Honda. The two companies call it "the first joint venture to manufacture fuel cells at scale."

Hydrogen energy has few success stories in the passenger car market. Honda was one of the only companies selling a hydrogen-powered car (Clarity), which was discontinued in 2017. The root of the problem is the almost complete absence of hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Automakers are now turning to construction trucks and construction equipment, and in theory it will be easier to build hydrogen fueling stations for vehicles operating in tight areas.

Hydrogen has a very low energy content by volume, which makes its storage challenging because it requires high pressure, low temperature or chemical processing for compact storage. Overcoming this challenge is important for light-duty vehicles, which often have limited size and weight to store fuel.

The Biden administration recently proposed new tax guidelines aimed at lowering the cost of producing hydrogen, making it a lower-pollution alternative to fossil fuels. But the problem is that most hydrogen is produced with the help of fossil fuels, primarily through a process called steam methane reforming, which produces carbon dioxide emissions. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and leaks occur throughout the supply chain, from production to end use.