Liebherr-Aerospace and GM have signed a joint development agreement covering the development of an electrical power generation system to demonstrate how hydrogen fuel cell-based power systems could be used in aircraft application. This demonstrator will be based on GM’s HYDROTEC hydrogen fuel cell technology. The construction and testing of this demonstrator will take place in a specialized laboratory multi-system integration testing at Liebherr-Aerospace in Toulouse (France). The demonstrator will incorporate GM’s precisely crafted fuel cells, HYDROTEC power cube and fuel cell system, along with the GM’s controls and models.
GM, a leader in fuel cell technology, and Liebherr, with extensive expertise in technology integration in aircraft, are pooling their skills for this project. Lower emissions and lower noise than conventional aircraft operation: with these fuel cell advantages, among other things, both companies see a great opportunity for use in aviation. GM, through its relationship with Honda, is one of the world’s most advanced fuel cell developers in many industrial fields, now entering into aeronautics.
GM’s fuel cell business benefits from decades of investment in engineering and manufacturing expertise with high volume processes that can bring economies of scale to fuel cell production.