APFCT to Commercialize World's First Fuel-cell Scooter in 2007

Taipei, Oct.4 , 2005 (CENS)--Taiwan's Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies Ltd. (APFCT) recently announced that it is scheduled to push the world's first commercialized fuel-cell scooter model in 2007, according to the company's CEO Huang Lin-huei.

Amid a global competition of hydrogen-energy, Huang claimed that APFCT has two major targeted rivals--Honda of Japan and Taiwan government's policy.

According to Huang, the fuel-cell industry has formed a comprehensive international supply chain and Dupont plays a vital role in the most-key upstream material supply. Huang added that Dupont is a shareholder in APFCT, which has poured about US$10 million into fuel-cell stack and system development. The CEO attributes his company's rapid access to a pre-mature period of product commercialization to Dupont's support.

APFCT has assembled six fourth-generation fuel-cell scooter prototypes and is working on a fifth-generation scooter model. Huang said that the safety level of a fuel-cell scooter is very high and the mileage cost of such scooter is only 50% higher than a gasoline-power scooter. Plus with the environment-pollution and social costs, in fact, Huang stressed, the fuel-cell scooter's cost is lower than gasoline-power counterparts.

As the high-emission powered two-wheelers (PTWs) might be weeded out in the post-gasoline energy era, Honda and Yamaha of Japan last year unexpectedly announced a cooperation project to launch Honda's first fuel-cell PTW model in 2009. Huang said that Honda's move would be a major threat to APFCT.

According to Huang, Taiwan's PTW industry boasts a strong advantage--a well-established supply chain-- in the development of the fuel-cell PTW market. He stressed that APFCT has owned 66 global patents for its fuel-cell stacks and systems, but the company hopes Taiwan government to map out favorable energy policies to help cultivate fuel-cell energy makers on the island and maintain their global-leading roles.

APFCT's fuel-cell stacks have completed a 3,700-hour test of non-decay operation, making the company one of the global leaders in fuel-cell PTW development. According to Huang, the Europe Union (EU) has bought a fuel-cell prototype from APFCT and hoped the Taiwanese firm to join the HyChain integration project to jointly develop hydrogen energy applications for transportation.

An official of Industrial Technology Department (ITD) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that currently only two to three local companies have applied for government subsidy to support their fuel-cell vehicle development. The official expected more and more companies to jump on the bandwagon.

APFCT was set up in 2000 and headquartered in Chunan, northern Taiwan, and operates a branch research laboratory in Anaheim, California. The primary business goal of APFCT is to commercialize polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. To the end, APFCT will work hard to a provider of fuel cell stacks and systems in the power range of 100W to 12kW, commercialize fuel cells with scooter engines and portable power generators, and develop safe and convenient metal hydride hydrogen storage and distribution system.

Global Fuel Cell Development Strategies
	Project Name	Policy Goal	Period	Leading Indicator
Japan	Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration (JHFC) Project	Oil-replaceable energy	2005-2010	Leading the globe in setting up fuel-cell vehicle industry standards
U.S.	California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP)	National security	2000-2015	Setting up standard regulations and completing military-vehicle tests
EU	HyChain	Clean energy for public transportation	2001-2010	Developing refillable innovative energy solutions
*: Only for reference Source: Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and APFCT