Onboard hydrogen
Methanol-water is carried as the source fuel and converted into hydrogen close to the fuel cell.
Stationary & Mobile Hydrogen Production
On-Vehicle Methanol Reforming Hydrogen Heavy-Duty Truck Powertrain
A world-first heavy-duty powertrain that uses methanol-water as an onboard fuel to produce hydrogen and generate fuel cell electricity for vehicle propulsion.
- Partner
- FAW Jiefang
- Application
- Heavy-duty logistics mobility
- Hydrogen output
- 650–1,200 L/min
- Hydrogen pressure
- 0.1 MPa
Project overview
Producing hydrogen onboard for long-haul heavy-duty transport.
CO-WIN and FAW Jiefang jointly developed this onboard methanol reforming hydrogen heavy-duty truck powertrain. Methanol-water is converted into hydrogen through a high-temperature catalytic reaction, then supplied directly to a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity for vehicle propulsion.
Following repeated system tests, the onboard reformer achieved a combination of performance, safety, packaging and operating-cost targets designed for logistics transport applications.
- Hydrogen output increased to 650–1,200 L/min.
- Start-up and shutdown reduced to within 30 minutes; cooling reduced to within one hour.
- Hydrogen operating pressure reduced to 0.1 MPa for enhanced safety.
- At equivalent power output, reformer volume is approximately one-third of the corresponding hydrogen tank volume.
- Hydrogen cost is approximately one-third of using supplied pure hydrogen.
The methanol-water reforming process produces only small quantities of water and carbon dioxide as by-products. Compared with conventional fuel engines, it offers a lower-carbon route without nitrogen oxide (NOx) or sulfur oxide (SOx) combustion emissions.
Vehicle platform
Integrated truck powertrain
Compact architecture
The reformer targets significantly lower packaging volume than an equivalent high-pressure hydrogen storage system.
Lower fuel cost
Onboard production is designed to reduce hydrogen cost compared with supplied pure hydrogen.