Faurecia to Collaborate with Stelia to Make Fuel Cell Tanks

French automotive supplier, Faurecia has announced that it has made a deal with Stelia Aerospace Composites to get exclusive access to Stelia’s intellectual property and process know-how with regard to composite hydrogen tanks. With input from Stelia Aerospace Composites, Faurecia now has the capability to design, industrialize and commercialize high pressure hydrogen tanks made of carbon fiber composites. These tanks can be installed in fuel cell electric vehicles.

Commenting on the collaboration, Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia said that Faurecia’s ambition is to become a leading supplier of fuel cell technology. With input from Stelia, Faurecia is working on making the use of fuel-cell electric vehicles more widespread as they will offer motorists greater autonomy and rapid refueling time. It is also possible to make hydrogen locally by using sustainable technology.

Range anxiety is not of as much concern when it comes to vehicles using fuel cell technology. When compared to battery electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles are a long-term electric vehicle solution as they offer about 500 km of range and need shorter time for refueling.

Faurecia estimates that by 2035, Faurecia 5 million vehicles equipped with fuel cell technology would be in production. Hydrogen tanks need to made of materials which are as light as possible while having the capability to withstand high pressure (700 bars) and carbon fiber composite is the ideal material with regard to these aspects.

This partnership with Stelia complements another deal that the company made recently. Faurecia had recently invested in Ad-Venta, a specialist in pressure valves for efficient and safe hydrogen storage. Ad-Venta developed a unique, reliable and compact valve which facilitates pressure management from 700 to 10 bars for delivery to the fuel cell.