General Motors and other automotive hydrogen fuel cell innovators will share a slice of $750 million in federal funding via the US Department of Energy (DOE) under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It is important to note that these are grants, not loans.
Plug Power Inc. of Latham, New York, is developing hydrogen fuel cell systems, such as rapid-charge systems for vehicle applications, including hydrogen-powered forklifts. Of the 52 recipients, it will take home the largest amount of funding—$88.9 million.
GM is expecting to take home $30 million in funding for its high-speed fuel cell stack manufacturing in the hopes the automotive manufacturer will be able to expand domestic fuel cell manufacturing capacity by 20,000 stacks per year.
GM is also in the process of developing durable, high-performance hydrogen fuel cells that can be used for heavy-duty applications, such as medium-duty trucks and worksite vehicles.
Along with creating an additional 1,500 jobs, the $750 million funding will, per DOE projections, “enable U.S. manufacturing capacity to produce 14 gigawatts of fuel cells per year, enough to power 15 percent of medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold each year.”