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Honda and Celanese Sign Agreement to Improve Fuel Cell Systems

4 December 2000

Honda and Celanese Sign Agreement to Improve Automotive Fuel Cell Systems

    KRONBERG, Germany, Dec. 4 Celanese AG and Honda
today announced that their research subsidiaries Celanese Ventures GmbH,
Germany, and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., Japan, will cooperate in the development of
membranes and membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for automotive fuel cells.
The purpose of this joint development is to improve the performance of
automotive fuel cells, while at the same time making them less expensive.
    MEAs are made up of solid polymer membranes and catalytic electrodes.
These two components control a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen which
produces electricity to power a vehicle.
    Celanese Ventures GmbH has developed a solid polymer membrane for MEAs.
(The Celanese fuel cell project is described in more detail on their website. The cooperation with
Honda R&D is expected to result in the development of a more efficient fuel
cell system.
    Ernst Schadow, Board member of Celanese AG, praised the agreement: "It is
our intent to become the leading MEA supplier to the emerging fuel cell
industry. This agreement with Honda is crucial to our success in the
automotive sector."