BROWNSTOWN, MI—Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC (FCSM), a joint venture between General Motors and Honda Motor Co., has begun assembling products at its 70,000-square-foot facility here.

The focus of the intiative is to lower development and manufacturing costs by leveraging economies of scale, advancing cell designs, simplifying supporting auxiliary equipment, utilizing common sourcing and reducing the use of costly precious metals. Through this collaboration, the new fuel cell systems will be one-third less expensive to make when compared to the cost of the system used in the 2019 Honda Clarity.

“This is a historic day for the industry as GM and Honda are the first full fuel cell system manufacturing joint venture to begin volume production of fuel cells for transportation and beyond,” says Suheb Haq, president of FCSM. “We begin the process with raw materials for membrane and electrode all the way through completed systems.

“Ongoing investment and commitment by both companies is driving our success at FCSM,” claims Haq. “This commitment aligns with our mission of making high quality, durable and affordable hydrogen fuel cell systems for a wide range of applications and customers.”

According to Haq, FCSM engineers are ensuring the highest levels of quality by improving manufacturing productivity. The venture incorporates many first-of-their-kind methods for automating membrane-electrode-assembly production and fuel cell stack assembly.

“We integrated the strengths of Honda and GM to create the most capable production system at this joint venture,” adds Tetsuo Suzuki, vice president of FCSM. “We brought a mass production mindset with attention to detail and a focus on high quality, and now we are ready to meet the needs of the customers for the future applications of fuel cell technology and the beginning of the hydrogen era.”