Holden and CSIRO research powertrain technologies

Holden has announced an Australian based joint research program with CSIRO to explore future global powertrain technologies. The program will contribute to parent company General Motors' mission to design and develop hybrid and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Denny Mooney, announced the joint program at the GM 'Road To Hydrogen' seminar in Sydney, where participants were able to drive Hy-wire, the latest hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle from GM which could revolutionise the way future cars are developed.

"This collaboration between Holden and CSIRO, with its undoubted world-class research capabilities, sees Australia's leading R&D investors in the public and private sectors playing their part in the global road to hydrogen," Mr Mooney said.

"This program will focus on technology which could have wide-ranging future applications in hybrid and fuel cell systems. Australia is in the region which will experience more than half the world's growth in car use in the next decade - the Asia Pacific.

"General Motors is harnessing its broad powertrain expertise and economies of scale as the world's largest automotive company to make a definitive difference, to move towards the day when cars are largely removed from the environmental debate.

"Holden has played a leadership role in local automotive research for many years. It is Australia's biggest private research and development spender investing more than $540 million in the past two years alone. Holden Innovation, which will drive the new project, is also Australia's only stand-alone automotive R&D centre," Mr Mooney said.

Holden and CSIRO began collaborative research into alternative propulsion systems with the ECOmmodore hybrid electric vehicle project in 2000. It has provided the platform for continuing research into the supercapacitor and battery technologies which could play an important role in the development of hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid applications.

Holden Innovation's Chief Engineer, Dr Laurie Sparke, said the project's research activity would be focused on power management systems and energy storage technologies.

"Electric propulsion will be the basis of practically all vehicle powertrains in the long term. These electric drives, regardless of the origin of the power source, will require electrical energy storage devices such as supercapacitors, batteries, or a combination of both," Mr Sparke said.

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