The potential of fuel cell technology, and of hydrogen for energy storage, is beyond question. At NuCellSys GmbH – a fully owned subsidiary of Daimler AG – the Group pools its development activities for this technology. With the conclusion of the development of the holistic fuel cell system for the new Mercedes-Benz GLC F‑CELL, NuCellSys is the new star in the firmament for the coming development projects: as of January 2019 the company is operating under the name Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH.
Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell: experienced specialist for automotive fuel cells from the passenger car to the city bus
Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH is founded on deep and long-standing know-how in fuel cell technology. All activities concerned with developing fuel cell systems have been focused at the Nabern site near Kirchheim-Teck since 1997. Since 2009 the company has been a fully owned subsidiary of Daimler AG and a worldwide leader in the development of fuel cell and hydrogen systems for vehicle applications. Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH is responsible for system concepts and development, component and software development as well as testing and validation. Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH also develops all components for 700-bar hydrogen storage.
The Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL
The overall drivetrain and the hydrogen storage system of the new Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL, which celebrated its market launch just at the end of October, also comes from the fuel cell development centre in Nabern. The components and drive unit were subjected to stringent individual and endurance testing on a variety of test benches. The first prototypes were also built here.
All set for the future
There is already a new project on the agenda following development completion of the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL: in the coming years fuel cell technology is also set to electrify the Mercedes-Benz Citaro city bus. In the past several dozen Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid city buses have already demonstrated their strengths in public service. In order to use the technology in other automotive segments and large volumes in future, Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH is already in the midst of the task of further developing the fuel cell system to ensure that it can be flexibly incorporated into the Group-wide electric modular system.
