Ballard Sets New Standard for Automotive Fuel Cells

    VANCOUVER, B.C.--Oct. 26, 2001--Ballard Power Systems announced today its most advanced fuel cell platform to date, the Mark 902.
    Building on the success of the Mark 900 Series announced in January 2000, the Mark 902 establishes a new standard of performance by optimizing lower cost, design for volume manufacture, reliability, power density and compatibility with customer system requirements, once again affirming Ballard's continued industry lead. The Mark 902 Series represents Ballard's 4th generation of transportation fuel cell platforms.
    Designed to meet the rugged conditions of transportation applications, the Mark 902 platform also allows configurations for stationary power generation use, and is scalable from 10 kW to 300 kW depending upon customer requirements and applications. Typical power output for transportation markets is 85 kW for passenger vehicles and 300 kW for transit bus applications.
    "Ballard has designed the Mark 902 with an overall approach that considers core materials, volume manufacture processes and stack performance in the context of a total fuel cell engine system," notes John Harris, Vice-President, Marketing of Ballard. "Having met our goals on volume, weight and power requirements in our previous Mark 700 Series announced in 1995, and extending that performance and power density to practical, volume ready designs and materials with the original Mark 900, we were determined to improve system integration and reliability, and further reduce costs with the new Mark 902. The Mark 902 platform strategy also accommodates Ballard's technology roadmap program, allowing us to incorporate even more advanced technologies that we are developing in our laboratories as they mature."
    Noteworthy among advances in the Mark 902 design are the unique Ballard-designed flowfield plates. Developed over a 10-year period, they are made from flexible graphite material supplied by our strategic supplier Graftech Inc., and offer the merits of excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, low cost and compatibility with continuous process volume manufacture. Furthermore, the unit cell design of the Mark 902 allows scalable combinations to achieve a variety of power outputs. The Mark 900 Series unit cell architecture has achieved power densities well over 2200 watts/liter, and provides great flexibility in designing fuel cell stacks to meet customer performance and cost requirements.
    The first evaluation units of Ballard's Mark 902 have already been delivered to customers. Orders for delivery of production units by end of year 2001 have also been received. The Mark 902 platform will power the buses in the 10-city European Union bus program announced earlier this year.
    Earlier Mark 900 Series technology has been demonstrated by Ballard's customers in their vehicles, including DaimlerChrysler's Necar 5, Ford's FCV, Honda's FCX-V4 and Nissan's Xterra FCV.
    Harris also notes that "Ballard's ongoing leadership in the fuel cell world is clearly represented in Ballard's new Mark 902. Ballard is committed to providing its customers with the best in terms of fuel cell technology and support. Ballard's expertise in technology and materials, its capability to manufacture fuel cells in its Vancouver-based manufacturing facility, its strategic alliances with world-class partners, and Ballard's continuing real-world operation of passenger vehicles, transit buses and stationary and portable fuel cell power generation equipment illustrate Ballard's start-to-finish commitment to making fuel cells a commercial reality."
    A demonstration of BALLARD(R) fuel cell technology at work, in real-world operating conditions, will occur at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum on October 26 - 28. The Michelin Challenge Bibendum is a three-day event to showcase environmentally-friendly vehicles. The event culminates in a day-long rally from Los Angeles, CA to Las Vegas, NV. Of the seven fuel cell vehicles participating in the rally, four will be powered by BALLARD(R) fuel cells.