Global automotive supplier Bosch expects that platinum will only play a "secondary role" in its new fuel cells. It seems that even if fuel cell technology is developing rapidly in the field of pollution-free transportation, it will not bring much to the precious metals market. benefit.
According to Reuters calculations, Bosch's new fuel cell will use one-tenth of the platinum used in existing fuel cell vehicles.
Analysts said that the recovery of platinum metal demand and prices is increasingly dependent on whether fuel cells will be widely used in cars, ships and trains, as the amount of platinum used in various devices is declining.
In the past 5 years, spot prices of platinum have fallen by more than 40% due to continued oversupply, but have rebounded slightly in recent months. But Bosch said it will reduce the use of platinum in its mass-produced fuel cells.
In April of this year, private company Bosch signed an agreement with Swedish company Powercell to cooperate in large-scale production of fuel cells. Bosch said that the current design of the fuel cell is not complete, but it is expected that its platinum usage is only equivalent to that of a diesel catalytic converter. Analysts said that catalytic converters for diesel passenger cars typically use 3 to 7 grams of platinum, while fuel cells use about 30 to 60 grams of platinum.
Bosch declined to disclose the estimated platinum usage of the S3 fuel cell system. The S3 fuel cell system will be developed by Bosch in cooperation with Powercell and is expected to be launched in 2022.
As governments around the world introduce strict emission regulations, fuel cell technology is expected to be more widely promoted, and China is leading the way. China plans to launch 2 million fuel cell vehicles by 2030.
Fuel cells use hydrogen as a fuel and platinum as a catalyst to generate electricity through chemical reactions. Although they have longer battery life than batteries, they currently have a small market share in electric vehicles (EVs).
For years, fuel cells were expected to boost platinum demand significantly, but scientists have found ways to reduce the use of platinum in fuel cells.
The best-selling fuel cell vehicle model is the Toyota Mirai. The next version of the model is expected to reduce the platinum content by two thirds from the current 30 grams to about 10 grams. Toyota declined to comment.
Hyundai Motor Co introduced the latest version of its NEXO model last year. A spokesman for the company said that the fuel cell's platinum content had been cut from 78 grams to 56 grams. Moreover, Hyundai plans to invest 6 billion euros to produce 700,000 fuel cell systems by 2030.
Fuel cells allow electric vehicles to have a longer range and can be recharged in minutes, a fraction of the time required to charge a battery. Nissan's best-selling battery electric vehicle Leaf has a range of 226 miles, while Hyundai NEXO models have a range of 380 miles. Therefore, the early major markets for fuel cells are expected to be heavy goods vehicles and buses.