“Volkswagen’s Secret Project: A Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle”

In June 2024 — two years after the first reports — OilPrice.com returned to the joint patent of Volkswagen and kraftwerk. Under the headline “Volkswagen’s Secret Project: A Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle”, the energy-markets outlet revisited the ceramic-membrane fuel cell and the up to 2,000 kilometers of range associated with it.

Behind the headline sits the aSOFC: a ceramic membrane with a nanocrystalline electrolyte instead of a polymer one, built into a 38-mm micro-tube weighing about one gram and good for roughly 100 Wh. The cell contains no platinum and no lithium; in a vehicle, one SURFBOARD tank module holds 200 kWh for up to about 1,500 km, refueled in about 2 minutes.

For kraftwerk, the piece shows the durability of the story: international energy media were still examining the patent long after the first wave of coverage. The published facts remain exactly what the record shows — a development cooperation with the Volkswagen Group, five years of proof-of-concept work, the jointly held granted patent DE102020119021B3 and a test vehicle that covered 2,000 km on a single tank. kraftwerk claims nothing beyond that record.

On kraftwerkgroup.com, the technology page explains the cell in depth, the vehicle catalogue shows the 38 models upgraded by kraftwerk, and the FAQ addresses range, refueling and fuels. The original OilPrice.com article is linked from this page.