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GM Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle On The Horizon For The Military

General Motors is gearing up to release a swath of new all-electric vehicles, with “at least” 20 new EVs headed down the pipeline by 2023. However, there’s another innovative propulsion technology in development as well, namely hydrogen fuel cells. Now, it looks as though a new GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle could be in the works for use by the military.

Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 concept

Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 concept

Although General Motors has already gone on record in saying that a hydrogen-powered consumer vehicle is currently off the docket, the automaker is nonetheless engaged in a strategic partnership with Honda to develop hydrogen technology, as well as manufacture fuel cells in Michigan. Now, recently comments from GM Defense President David Albritton suggest that a GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle could be on the horizon for fleets – including military customers.

Speaking to journalists at a recent event recognizing the first deliveries of the GM Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), Albritton discussed the Chevy Colorado ZH2 concept from 2017.

“There was no actual program of record within the U.S. army, but we worked with the ground vehicle services center to test that vehicle and allow soldiers to actually get in it,” Albritton said. “That was a great learning environment for us – to actually learn how you can take a fuel cell and put it into an army vehicle with all the rigors of taking it off-road and everything else.”

Albritton continued by saying that although the current infrastructure restricted what was possible with regard to offering a new GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, that would change in the future.

“I think as these become more pervasive in society, with better electric and hydrogen fuel cell becoming more advanced, those technologies will creep into future military platforms, and we believe we’re very well-positioned now based on what we’ve learned, from creating those prototype vehicles,” Albritton said.

Albritton also discussed the Surus concept. For those that may be unaware, the Surus concept (Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure) was a GM hydrogen fuel cell platform geared for commercial and military applications, which provided General Motors with feedback on what the U.S. military would require should something similar be adopted into service.

“It doesn’t exist today, but we’re very excited and bullish about what we’ve learned in creating something like that in a prototype form that we hopefully could produce well down the line,” Albritton said.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. This is what is wrong with the US military because where are these guys supposed to go in search for Hydrogen fuel given the landscape where nearly all military vehicles use diesel.. you can attack an enemy and get access to their fuel except it’s probably just diesel with not a gram of Hydrogen to be found anywhere as Hydrogen fuel needs special containers and training.

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  2. Omegatalon strikes again.

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  3. IMO Electric vehicles are better option for military usage than Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Number one electricity is easier to access than Hydrogen all around the world and number two hydrogen is the most flammable element in the universe which you might not want to sit on it on a battlefield. So these vehicle will be prone to be a dead trap for soldiers during an accident or under enemy attack. Of course you can cover the hydrogen tank with heavy armor and put redundant hydrogen feed cut off mechanisms but it would add to the cost and lead to worse efficiency.

    My two cents is Instead of pursing military applications GM should consider making a grand reentrance to medium to heavy truck segment which hydrogen perfectly suited for with the designated routes and schedules you don’t need to put hydrogen stations at ransom places all over the country which something you have to do if you consider it for cars. Also this introduction might also can open the door to bigger applications like disrupting diesel marine engine business with better hydrogen ones and maybe power generator business also…

    Yeah i know Chevy already have rebadged Isuzu and Silverado 4500-5500-6500 medium trucks but let’s be honest they’re just for the sake of appearances, i’m talking about aiming for the lion’s share. Not much people know about but Commercial vehicles like cargo vans, medium and semi trucks and coaches and transit buses are real cash cows with the margins that passenger car makers can’t even dream about. Some times i look old chevy and GMC big rigs and GM buses on google, and gosh they’re really national treasure…

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    1. It actually isn’t. In the field, you need to generate your own electricity which means you have to transport fuels anyway. Add the time it takes to charge and any wiring and charger infrastructure you have to plop down in the field. Hydrogen has the gas-pump speed.

      The whole idea here is that you can take the existing diesel/JP-8 supply and reform the hydrocarbons to hydrogen in the field. The high efficiency of fuel cells and electric propulsion mean that you need less diesel over burning the fuel directly in an engine. This is far more efficient and easier than taking JP-8, burning it in a diesel generator and charging up batteries.

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      1. I think you make some good points Sam. However, I would say that storing H on a Forward Operating Base would considerably more dangerous than Diesel. Highly flammable, and its more difficult to transport in country. Clearly they have a plan on how to utilize it or they wouldn’t be building vehicles designed to burn it (at least one would think). I don’t know what that plan is, but it seems on the surface having H storage tanks on a FOB would tactically be a very bad idea, especially given the conflicts we have been engaged in for the last 20 years. A mortar strike that hits your diesel storage tanks is a bad day, a mortar or RPG that hits your H storage area could be catastrophic. It would take a generation or more for the military to convert everything to H. So there would be Diesel and H present for a very long time in every forward operation. Seems unnecessary to me. Run it on diesel, develop electricity and as technology allows, convert vehicles that could excel as electric powered go that direction. Developing electricity may be more indirect, but it seems more viable in that environment.

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        1. The idea of reliable electricity on a battlefield is comical. Elon Musk’s solution is to use diesel. There are several ways to store hydrogen in a battlefield. One of then is JP-8 Jet fuel which can be used with water to produce hydrogen easily in the field. And there are a number of solid options. An aluminum gallium alloy turns to aluminum oxide and hydrogen when combined with water. And liquid hydrogen is probably safer than diesel in practice.

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  4. The rear looks like an amalgamation of three cars!!!!!!!!! UGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. ……as if it mattered.

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  5. You folks keep going on about how dangerous H2 gas is…. Gasses are far less dangerous than volatile liquids. Liquids explode when the heat of combustion evaporates more fuel. Diesel is desired because gas is more volatile. Hydrogen is already a gas… hydrogen would be in tanks that are only dangerous when oxidant gets in…. projectiles will also be very bad for lithium ion fuel cells. They are nearly impossible to put out once they start burning.

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  6. Military field stations of the future will be microgrids, deploying small-scale solar and wind for generation, with batteries and electrolyzer capacity to smooth intermittency and store planned excess. While BEVs will be optimal for short-range operations, FCEVs will be needed for long-range excursions. In truth, the optimal EV will be a hybrid, with batteries and ultracapacitors for power and a fuel cell range extender. At a certain scale, these facilities will be able to self-charge and fuel their mobile fleets.

    Oh, and Duffer is absolutely right about hydrogen being less dangerous than gasoline or diesel. If you’re worried about driving a fuel cell vehicle, you should be terrified of driving in an ICE vehicle.

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  7. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to discuss this issue here on your internet site.

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