Singapore to make parts for high-tech batteries

Singapore will be supplying key components used in fuel cells - batteries that make electricity using hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air - after British fuel cell specialist Intelligent Energy entered into agreements with listed companies Manufacturing Integration Technology and Sunningdale to supply the parts, reported The Straits Times.

The company's Chief Executive, Mr Henri Winand, told The Straits Times yesterday that fuel cell technology is finally at a stage "where we can start making money".

The company is collaborating with four major vehicle manufacturers to make fuel cell models. Besides Suzuki, which it has worked with for the last decade, Mr. Winand would only say the others are Japanese, Asian and European, hinting that the latter's project was a high-performance model with "the grunt of a V8".

Automotive companies have experimented with fuel cell models for over 50 years now, but interest fizzled out about 10 years ago. But in recent years, with rising emission standards, interest has returned, with Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen and Hyundai announcing fuel cell models.

As for fuel cell cars costing at least twice what conventional cars cost today, the Mr. Winand said "it's a matter of scale", adding that the cost will be competitive between 2018 and 2025. This, he explained, would be on the back of increasingly stringent emission regulations. "Dieselgate has crystallised the cost of cleaning up the internal combustion engine," he said, referring to Volkswagen's recent scandal.