Chinese electric vehicle maker Aiways has signed a project cooperation agreement with the Gaoping city government in Shanxi to build a new methanol fuel cell factory locally.
To accelerate commercialisation of such vehicles, Aiways will produce 80,000 methanol hydrogen fuel cell power systems annually at the new factory, for use in future vehicles.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The agreement was signed by Fu Qiang, president and co-founder of Aiways and Yuan Jian, the mayor of Gaoping City, during the Chinese International Import Expo (CIIE).
The parties agreed to cooperate on the methanol fuel cell system jointly developed by Aiways and Blue World Technologies – a Danish developer and manufacturer of components and systems for the automotive industry.
Fu Qiang said: "With Gaoping's pedigree in methanol fuel development, the city has the potential to be a key production base for us as we expect the technology to make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the automotive industry."
His company claims methanol fuel cells are more efficient, environmentally friendly and convenient to use than the traditional methanol fuel and hydrogen vehicles. In a hybrid which includes a small battery pack, the methanol fuel cell acts as a range extender delivering longer range, fast refueling with a liquid fuel and a reduction in air pollution.
Using methanol provides opportunity to use the existing fueling infrastructure and, when using green methanol produced from renewable sources, is CO2 neutral.
Gumpert Aiways presented a methanol fuel cell system in a pre-production Nathalie during CIIE 2019.
Gaoping City has the capability to produce 300,000 tons of methanol per year which the two partners will use in response to the new Chinese national requirements for low carbon development.
