Sumitomo Corporation Group and US Hybrid Have High Hopes for Hydrogen-Powered Public Transit

Sumitomo Corporation together with Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (collectively referred to as ”SC Group”) announced today their Strategic Collaboration Agreement with US Hybrid to support their desire to grow its fuel cell production business through the expansion of fuel cell stack production capacity for commercial production. SC Group will play an integral role in the project by coordinating the discussions with OEM’s through their extensive business network.

US Hybrid, together with their Fuel Cell division, US FuelCell, has more than 26 years of experience in fuel cell balance of plant components and vehicle development and deployment. US FuelCell develops and manufactures new technologies and transportation products.

“Fuel cell vehicles offer high energy efficiency, no tailpipe emissions, and full vehicle functionality, including the normal driving range, fast fueling and a potential path to sustainable transportation. We highly respect Japanese automakers as a leader in commercializing fuel cell passenger vehicles, and we consider our new freeze capable, fuel cell powertrains to be a game-changer for the equally important market segments of medium and heavy duty trucks for freight movement and buses for public transit,” said Abas Goodarzi, President of US Hybrid. “We are very pleased to be working with Sumitomo, as a global strategic business development partner, in order to commercialize our fuel cell engine and integrated vehicle technologies that have proven reliability for both on-road and off-road transportation.”

SC Group is equally excited to be initiating this partnership. “By bridging US Hybrid’s excellent technology and Sumitomo’s deep relationships with OEMs, we are excited to contribute to this project and realize the potential for using clean hydrogen energy in commercial transportation,” said Duke Kato, Senior Vice President at Sumitomo Corporation of Americas. “We view this partnership as an investment into the way mass transportation performs in the future, mitigating the negative impact on the environment.”

SC Group has studied Hydrogen as a future clean energy source, including how fuel cell technologies can be applied to cars. In Japan the development of fuel cell technology has already been incorporated into passenger cars like the Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity.

Through this research, SC Group has recognized the need to develop this clean energy technology for greater infrastructure needs, specifically applying it to public transportation. Reaching this agreement with US Hybrid will be an important next step in developing this technology, whose fuel cell application to public transit had been evaluated as one of the closest to the commercialization through demonstration projects in California, Hawaii, Ohio and Michigan. US Hybrid also marketed the first freeze-capable integrated fuel cell engine for medium and heavy-duty vehicles at the Hannover Messe Hydrogen and Fuel Cells and Batteries Fair this past April.

About Sumitomo Corporation

Sumitomo Corporation is a leading global trading company with 110 locations in 66 countries and 23 locations in Japan. The entire Sumitomo Corporation Group consists of nearly 900 companies and more than 70,000 personnel. The SC business is continuously expanding into a diverse range of products and services. Its core business units are Metal Products, Transportation and Construction Systems, Environment and Infrastructure, Media, Network, Lifestyle Related Goods and Services, Mineral Resources, Energy, and Chemical and Electronics.

About Sumitomo Corporation of Americas

Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York City, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) has 8 offices in major U.S. cities. SCOA is the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, one of the world’s leading traders of goods and services. As an integrated business enterprise, the firm has emerged as a major organizer of multination projects, an expediter of ideas, an important international investor and financier, and a powerful force for distribution of products and global communications through a network of offices worldwide.

SCOA continues to grow its renewable energy business and has extensive experience developing, operating and owning power generating projects and facilities such as wind, geothermal, biomass and solar businesses around the world. Investments include 200MW Mesquite Creek Wind Farm in western Texas; 845MW Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon ; two Kansas wind farms, the 131MW Cimarron II and 168MW Ironwood projects; Stanton wind project, a 120-MW wind power facility in Texas; and Desert Sunlight, a 550MW solar power project in California. 

About US Hybrid

Since 1999, US Hybrid has provided electric and hybrid traction drive systems for medium and heavy duty commercial trucks, municipality vehicles, and fuel cell transit buses throughout the world. US Hybrid was founded in Torrance, California by Dr. Gordon Abas Goodarzi, Ph.D, P.E. a 30 year veteran of the electric, hybrid, and fuel cell industries. US Hybrid’s team of engineers has over 200 years of combined experience in electric and hybrid powertrain and energy storage systems.

US Hybrid’s products have been used in many OEM commercial vehicles worldwide, including transit systems and trucks with over one million accumulated kilometers of operation. US Hybrid’s 170kW and 240kW drive motors currently power monorails in Brazil and Malaysia, while US Hybrid’s 320kW drives power heavy-duty mining equipment as well as Class 8 trucks. US Hybrid is the supplier for the New York Department of Sanitation Hybrid street sweepers and the New York Container Terminal hybrid port trucks and fuel cell vehicles for Hawaii Volcano National park, Hilo MTA and Ports of Los Angeles.