Nuts and Bolts of Tomorrow

Thinking back at my recent visit to Daimler's facilities in Germany to see where they develop and produce the current and future Fuel Cell technologies, I debated about what elements of the visit I should talk about in my blog. As I recounted the entire day I spent at Daimler with their staff, it occurred to me that much of what I was shown could not be shared with those outside of Daimler, demonstrating the depth of immersion into their Fuel Cell world that I was exposed to.  

The level of access to see where and how these cars are produced was truly a unique experience, especially for a guy who is really nothing more than a customer of Mercedes-Benz.  The visit was beyond that of a canned "factory tour" where you're given a hard hat and led around on a golf cart to see E and C-Class cars being slapped together at Daimler's main production plant in the city of Sindelfingen outside of Stuttgart.  My experience was that of a one on one look at the entire organization, the people, the processes, the technology and the manufacturing steps in the production of Mercedes' Fuel Cell vehicles.  I was given the opportunity to talk, discuss and inquire with the managers of each respective area of design, assembly, engineering and supply, and to be exposed to the big picture of Fuel Cell development and how it fits into Mercedes-Benz's past, present and most importantly, its future.

The development of the Fuel Cell technologies are performed at Daimler's advanced powertrain facilities in Narburn, about a 20 minute drive from their main manufacturing factory in Sindelfingen.  Here, many elements of Daimler's fuel cell technologies are developed, engineered and manufactured, both for the existing vehicle program as well as the next generation of F-Cell cars.  This is the main "hub" of fuel cell development, including the production facilities of the fuel cell stack systems from Daimler's subsidiary company, NuCellSys.  What began as a partnership between Daimler and Ballard Power Systems, eventually adding Ford Motor Company into the partnership before Daimler's 100% acquisition in 2009, NuCellSys GmbH is the heart of the F-Cell's powertrain technology.  They develop not only the fuel cell systems which combine the hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, but integrate the electric motors and the hydrogen storage and dispensing units as part of the entire F-Cell powertrain system. In addition to designing and engineering the Fuel Cell, NuCellSys works hand in hand with Daimler to test the technologies through a dedicated testing facility for fuel cell and other advanced powertrain system.

Many car companies have testing and proving labs to run engines as well as whole cars in simulated real world conditions in an attempt to evaluate their limits and determine their reliability.  But as with all car companies, these facilities often must be shared with other projects and departments, especially with those teams that produce bread and butter production products which tend to get "priority" in the development hierarchy.  As a commitment to fuel cells and other future technologies, Daimler has built a dedicated testing facility specifically for the advanced powertrain group.  This lab is located right on the advanced powertrain campus, right next door to NuCellSys' facilities, allowing for immediate testing and efficient communications between all parties involved.  During my visit, they were running multiple tests of the next generation Fuel Cell systems, using programs which simulate real world driving patterns.  These are actual computer reading taken from actual cars driving around real roads that are run through the test powertrains as if they were actually on the streets themselves.  These test can determine power, smoothness, reliability and efficiency in real world conditions, without ever stepping foot outside the lab. 

NuCellSys also is developing not only the next generation F-Cell powertrains, but the processes in which they will be manufactured.  Much of the current F-Cell cars are pretty much hand made, one by one, which is fine for a limited run of fuel cell cars, but would be inefficient on a larger scale production.  As such, much of the component manufacturing for the next generation of Fuel Cells are being engineered to be produced at greater volumes using similar techniques and processes as normal C-Class and E-Class cars, with outside supplier partners involved in the mass production of components which are sent to Daimler for final assembly.  With much greater production output projected in the future compared to the current F-Cell program, NuCellSys was in the process of opening a larger area in their facility for the manufacturing of the Fuel Cell systems.  I have seen first hand that steps are actively underway for full scale production of a Fuel Cell vehicle in the next year or so.

Once the fuel cell powertrains are produced at the facility in Narburn, they are trucked to a special line in the main Sindelfingen factory where the F-Cell cars are currently being built.  Unlike the highly automated main lines which produce the C, E and S-Class cars, the current F-Cell is virtually hand built, each and every one.  An unpainted metal structure referred to as a "body in white" arrives from the B-Class production facility in Leipzig and is slightly modified in Singelfingen to accommodate the fuel tanks.  Then the body is painted and then assembled by hand.  It takes about 10 hours to complete each F-Cell as it moves from station to station.  On the line next to the F-Cell's, I saw many of the armored limousines being built under the M-Guard sub-brand, as well as hand assembled prototypes of upcoming Mercedes models that I am not allowed to disclose. 

The hand made nature of the F-Cell as it currently stands will be replaced for the next generation F-Cell by a much more efficient "normal" production line type of assembly process, though still no where near as automated as their mass produced offerings.  But a step in the forward direction towards "normalizing" the fuel cell vehicle's production allowing for greater numbers and cost savings. 

Looking at my entire day's itinerary, there were many aspects of the Fuel Cell technology and the background behind its evolution and eventual place in the Mercedes-Benz lineup that began to make much sense.  At the same time, it raised just as many questions on several fronts as far as the technical and infrastructure realities of implementing the sale and support of Fuel Cell vehicles to the masses. My contributions as an end consumer were focused around these realities, which are currently being hammered out through the very program I am participating in with my current F-Cell vehicle in Southern California.

Bottom line is, this truly is uncharted territory, and despite nearly 20 years of fuel cell experimentation and experience, Mercedes-Benz is still learning how to design, engineer, manufacture, sell and support fuel cell vehicles to this day.  The magnitude of the responsibility and the potential to revolutionize personal mobility is a large one that now rests upon companies like Mercedes-Benz, on government leadership like the State of California, on energy supplier partners like Linde and upon consumers like myself.  With petroleum prices continuing to skyrocket and the need for energy stability and sustainability reaching critical mass, we must succeed in all our efforts to make this fuel cell technology a reality for tomorrow.