AVL CEO Warns Against Focus on Fuel Cells To Exclusion of Other Long-Term Options

Long-term Research Should Include Different Energy Sources, Fuels and Propulsion Systems

DETROIT, March 5 -- Hydrogen fuel cells should be one of, but not the only, area of long-range research conducted by the scientific community, said Helmut List, Chairman and CEO of Austrian-based AVL GmbH, during his keynote address at a Society of Automotive Engineers titled, "The car at the center of sustainable mobility: Can it be done?"

List argues that while hydrogen fuel cells are the most likely candidate for long term sustainable mobility, history has taught the automotive industry that some technologies -- like viable batteries for electric vehicles and jet turbines -- never became feasible for personal transportation.

List continued, "The point I'm trying to make today is that scientific prudence demands that we in the business of personal mobility research must take into account different scenarios, especially in the long term. As my American friends would say, 'You can't put all your eggs in one basket.'

"Those of us who do research for a living know this: one cannot predict the outcome of research in the long-term. If long-term research were predictable, it wouldn't be research. Predictable long-term research is an oxymoron."

Going further, he argued that the internal combustion engine may be on the cusp of another revolutionary change, where fuel supply, air supply and ignition would all be flexible, thus taking advantage of the strengths of both the compression and spark ignition.

Does this mean that List and AVL are against fuel cells? Not at all. As List said in his speech, "There are certainly many reasons to be optimistic. Fuel cell work today is progressing quite nicely in some stationary applications, as well as in some larger mobile applications, like city buses. In these cases, size, packaging and cost are less critical than they are with personal transportation."

"If we apply this kind of thorough research, I believe that we have a good chance to achieve technological breakthroughs that would allow us by 2020 to increase the efficiency of the internal combustion powertrain by 70%. This, of course, is long-term research -- I said by 2020, and this is by no means proven. But it is clearly worth the research investment."

AVL is the world's largest privately owned and independent company for the development of gasoline, diesel, alternative fuel powertrain systems, as well as fuel cell and hybrid technologies. The company also manufactures powertrain instrumentation and test systems. Close cooperation with customers is guaranteed by affiliates and local offices worldwide. AVL's North American Headquarters is located in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth, Michigan.

Visit www.stratacomm.net/releases.htm to view the full text of List's speech.