cellcentric starts it pilot production of fuel cell systems at the Esslingen-Pliensauvorstadt site
cellcentric inaugurates pilot production for fuel cell systems at the Esslingen-Pliensauvorstadt site, taking another significant step towards large-scale production. cellcentric’s modern production facility in Esslingen-Pliensauvorstadt is the ideal location to produce fuel cell systems.
cellcentric is working towards supplying fuel cells on a large scale by the end of the decade, when fuel cell-powered long-haul heavy-duty trucks are predicted to become a key technology for sustainable transportation.
cellcentric’s goal is to develop, produce and distribute fuel cell systems on a large scale in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg that achieve the best possible total cost of ownership (TCO) in the highly competitive transportation industry. In addition, cellcentric intends to cover the entire fuel cell ecosystem – from the product itself to maintenance and recycling at the end of its life cycle.
“Fuel cell technology is a well-proven solution for CO2-neutral long-distance heavy-duty transportation. However, it has not yet been produced on an industrial scale, which is precisely the key to achieving economies of scale, optimizing the total cost of ownership (TCO), and putting cellcentric in a solid competitive position in the long term,” says Lars Johansson. “The opening of our pilot production facility in Esslingen today is not the end point of large-scale production, but rather the blueprint for the next step. In the coming years, we will continue to consistently drive forward the industrialization and scaling of production of fuel cell systems at the Weilheim site,” explains Johansson.
In the next step, cellcentric will establish the necessary production processes at the site to prepare for the start of large-scale production of fuel cell systems with a high degree of vertical integration. With complete production at one location and a high level of automation, the company secures stable long-term economic development.
In addition to the development and production of fuel cell systems for heavy-duty transportation, cellcentric will create a complete ecosystem around the highly complex assemblies. This will provide customers with products of unique quality while enabling seamless integration of the drive solutions into the vehicle management system. Moreover, a comprehensive service package including all maintenance and repair services will ensure that maintenance-related downtimes and unforeseen failures or breakdowns are reduced to a minimum for users – an important criterion in the transport industry for the best possible utilization of vehicle capacity.
Recently, cellcentric presented its smaller, more powerful and efficient NextGen fuel cell system for sustainable hydrogen-powered long-haul trucks for the first time at the ACT Expo in Las Vegas, USA. In addition, with the BZA150 fuel cell generation, the company has a close-to-series production and already practical pilot product that has been successfully tested by the truck manufacturers Daimler Truck and Volvo Group in demanding field tests. Series production of the NextGen fuel cell system is scheduled to begin at the end of the decade.
