Several tens of millions to be invested

The pilot plant currently has a production capacity of around 350,000 metallic bipolar plates per year. By investing in additional machines, the small serial production line will be ramped up to around 800,000 plates p.a. by the summer of 2022. A separate high-volume line for four million plates a year is being built at the same time, and is to be expanded further after the start of production (SOP) in 2023. Dana Incorporated is investing several tens of millions of euros in total in the future of fuel cell technology at the Neu-Ulm site and creating around 40 jobs in the e-mobility sector.

Orders from Bosch and PowerCell

By expanding metallic bipolar plate production, Dana Neu-Ulm is making steady progress in the transformation process it has embarked upon. The company has been making successful use of unique technological features and competitive advantages from the world of the internal combustion engine to develop innovations for the electrification of mobility – from battery to fuel cell technology. Bosch and PowerCell have already placed orders for the production of over 100 million metallic bipolar plates in the next few years.

Mobility of the future

Fuel cell technology has the potential to change mobility in the long term. So far, however, this type of drive has not gained widespread acceptance, largely due to the high cost of fuel cell stacks. Dana’s metallic bipolar plate is expected to make a major contribution to this effort and make advancements in the commercialization of the fuel cell. The highly integrated metallic bipolar plate from Neu-Ulm is already reducing the total cost of fuel cell stacks by up to 10 percent at present.

Folding, transporting, placing, unfolding

Dana’s innovative battery-housing gasket is folded for transport to match the size of European pallets to a maximum size of 1,100 mm x 700 mm, making it especially useful for logistics and assembly.  The gasket simply needs to be placed on the battery housing – and is unfolded using a installation fixture.  There is no risk of assembling the gasket incorrectly. The Victor Reinz® folding gasket from Dana is already being used to seal the battery housings of vehicles in Europe and North America that are at the verge of introduction to the market.

Uninterruptible and self-extinguishing

The battery-housing gasket is a flat gasket made from a supporting sheet with a dual-sided elastomer seal. The seal and the folding elements form a circumferential and uninterruptible gasket profile around the entire rim of the battery housing.

The polymer is extruded with the edge molding process and features self-extinguishing properties. The folding gasket complies with the important regulation, UL94, where the polymer must self-extinguish within seconds. To further improve corrosion protection, each bolting location is also able to be sealed.

Folding instead of piecing together

When compared to other technical solutions such as pieced together and fluid seals, the folding gasket from Dana has a clear advantage. 

The gasket is supplied as a single piece, eliminating the time-consuming and fault-prone piecing together of the individual gasket parts. The flexible elastomer folding elements are much more stable, withstand tensile, bending, and shearing forces, compensating for tolerances in the millimeter range and ensuring they remain securely in position. The gasket’s continuous sealing contour, without any cut, protects against potential leaking points due to bulging and elongation. If repairs are needed, the folding gasket can be removed and replaced without damaging the battery housing.

If the battery housing gasket is already pre-assembled by the supplier of the battery housing cover, Dana equips the gasket with additional insertion studs for the cover, as desired by the customer.

Key advantages of the battery housing gasket from Dana:

• Can be used for almost any battery housing
• Standardized logistics on European pallets using 3-D folding
• Faultless assembly with the fixture without piecing together
• Uninterruptible gasket profile
• Tolerance compensation through flexible elastomer folding elements
• Minimized risk of leakage
• Already being used by customers for vehicles awaiting their immediate launch

Bipolar plates are an integral component for enhancing the performance of the fuel cell stack and depending on the application and the customer’s specification, Dana offers both metallic and composite plates.

 

“The global fuel-cell market is gaining momentum as the mobility industry transitions to zero-emission vehicles,” said Antonio Valencia, president of Dana Power Technologies. “For more than two decades, Dana has been leveraging its engineering expertise to deliver award-winning technology that is critical to the fuel cell stack. Our global presence and manufacturing prowess enable our customers to meet their emission, quality, reliability, and cost requirements.”

 

Manufactured using the company’s patented integrated sealing technology and in-line conductive coating, Dana’s ultra-thin metallic bipolar plates deliver superior power density, reliability, and durability and can cut fuel cell stack costs by up to 10 percent. These metallic plates were named a finalist for the 2020 Automotive News PACE Awards and were recognized by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) with a 2019 FCH Award in the Best Success Story category as part of the INSPIRE Project.  Dana is one of ten partners in the INSPIRE project, which develops innovative stack components for fuel cells with high power densities.

 

Dana’s composite bipolar plate assemblies provide a reliable, high-performing, and cost-effective solution for fuel cell stacks.  They deliver improved performance and manufacturability, aiding original-equipment manufacturers in realizing commercialization of fuel cell-powered mobility.

The new development is focused on high-tolerance accuracy and ensures the components perfectly enclose the exhaust manifold and turbocharger.

Dana supplies the six components individually, except the backplate, which is already connected to the exhaust manifold gasket. Jaguar assembles the package in a defined installation order. The heat shields can also be disassembled individually if maintenance is necessary.

For production, Dana uses a three-in-one tool, which presses the plates for three different heat shields with a single stroke.

Service, trust, references and competitiveness

“Managing heat and noise remain two very important areas for our customers as they look to deliver the highest quality driving experience,” explains Christian Dahl, project manager original equipment sales. “Dana is able to offer custom-designed thermal acoustical shielding solutions that are seamlessly integrated into compact spaces while taking full advantage of our advanced manufacturing capabilities to deliver it at competitive prices.”

Then as now
Since 1947, the company’s headquarters has been located in Neu-Ulm, Germany and has developed steadily. With more than 1,300 employees, REINZ-Dichtungs-GmbH is a subsidiary of Dana Incorporated – a global company with 36,000 employees on six contents. It is now one of the largest and best-known employers in the region. The brand name Victor Reinz^® stands for innovative gasket technologies with the highest quality standards, then and now.

Innovations for the future
Almost all well-known brands and models of car manufacturers worldwide are equipped with professional Victor Reinz sealing solutions for the engine and exhaust system.

Since the beginning of the development of metallic bipolar plates in 2001, the company has been an innovative pioneer in the field of fuel cell technology and won the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Award in the category "Best Success Story" with its product development in 2019. It was also recognized as a 2020 finalist for the prestigious Automotive News PACE Awards.

The wide range of innovative Victor Reinz^® sealing products is not only favored by the European automotive industry, but also lead the market in many industrial product areas.

"We connect the proud tradition of our now 100-year-old success story to the people and their experiences that have left their mark on the company over this long period. This is what we are building on with our innovative and future-compliant products, together for and with our customers”, declares the Dana Neu-Ulm Managing Director Frank Bader, who has formed the management duo together with Olivier Lassurguère, since 2019.

"Dana Incorporated has the aim of being one of the world's leading automotive suppliers for another 100 years", states Olivier Lassurguère. "Our vision is to collaborate with the automobile manufacturers to shape the engine of the future."

The FCH Award recognizes outstanding projects and developments in the field of fuel cells that reduce production costs, speed up manufacturing, develop new materials, increase performance, and demonstrate the reliability of hydrogen energy.

Dana is one of nine partners in the INSPIRE project, which develops innovative stack components for fuel cells with high power densities. One of the project goals was to develop a cost-effective and competitive bipolar plate.  The results of the INSPIRE project demonstrate Dana’s ability to deliver a market-ready metallic bipolar plate that will be important for the growth of the fuel-cell market.

The metallic bipolar plate developed by Dana is a key enabling component for the INSPIRE project’s stack, which delivers an industry-leading power density of 5.7 kilowatts per liter and over 1.5 W/cm², exceeding the group’s original target and surpassing the currently available fuel cell cars, which have a power density of approximately 3 to 4 kilowatts per Liter.

The highly durable bipolar plate from Dana is designed to meet the extreme demands for sealing, coating, and absolute precision of the extra-fine embossing structures. 

"Receiving the 2019 FCH Award  is an excellent achievement for Dana and the INSPIRE team and recognizes the significant accomplishments of the project to deliver a highly capable and more cost-effective fuel-cell stack," said Steven Monte,  vice president of advanced technologies and strategic planning for Dana’s Power Technologies group.  "Both the function of the bipolar plate and the resulting power density of 1.5 W/cm² and 5.7 kW/l are critically important for advancing fuel cell powertrains in the market."

Dana is one of the pioneers in the research and development of fuel cell technology. Original equipment manufacturers around the world are already using Dana’s bipolar plates in fuel-cell technology as an energy source or range extender in mobile applications.

Dana’s metallic bi-polar plates were recently named a finalist for the 2020 Automotive News PACE Awards. The winners are expected to be announced in March.