Berlin Airport will take centre stage in the latest market trial of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by General Motors’ European brand, Opel.

Its HydroGen4 vehicle will head to Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which Opel Vice President of Government Relations, Volker Hoff, has dubbed an “ideal partner” as it possesses the world’s first carbon dioxide neutral gas station, which offers green hydrogen produced from wind energy.

The new airport will become operational on June 3, 2012, and will replace the old airports at Tegel and Schonefeld.

It’s not the first time that Opel has run a market trial on fuel cell vehicles – in fact it started them back in 2008 and has involved a number of companies including the likes of ADAC, Allianz, Axel Springer AG/Bild, Coca-Cola, Hilton, Linde, Pace, Schindler, Veolia and the NH Hotel Friedrichstraße, all of which have tested the Opel HydroGen4.

As for the vehicle itself, it features a fuel cell stack with 440 series-connected cells. Its 73kW/100hp engine can accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 12 seconds and has a top speed of 99mph. It also has an operating range of 199miles thanks to a high pressure tank made from carbon fibre composite material that can hold up to 4.2kg of hydrogen.

General Motors is making a concerted effort to go green that stretches far beyond simply the emissions of its vehicles.

Thirty of its North American plants have reduced their energy density by an average of 25 – that’s the equivalent to the emissions produced by 97,000 homes in the USA– as it met the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry.

According to the report, its manufacturing facilities have managed to avoid more than 778,380 metric tons of greenhouse gases, saving an impressive $50million in energy costs.

Under the terms of the EPA’s programme, manufacturing companies must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency by at least 10 per cent within five years. The GM plant established a 10 per cent improvement goal and employed a number of energy efficiency projects, including: benchmarking energy use through the use of energy management systems; automating equipment shut-downs; and upgrading to energy efficiency lighting.

Now GM’s 30 plants make up one third of all sites that have achieved the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry – around 86 of the 386 manufacturing sites have taken the challenge to date.

It is high praise indeed – but the Ecotec 2.0litre turbo I-4 engine that is used to power the 2012 Buick Regal GS has now been shortlisted in the “10 Best Engines” for North America list by WardsAuto.

Producing 270hp, the 2.0litre Ecotec engine has the highest specific output of any GM production engine and is also the most power dense engine certified by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

It features all-aluminium, dual overhead cam, four-valve design that includes forged steel connecting rods. Its aluminium cylinder head is cast with a rotocast process that reduces machining and improves port flow. Meanwhile, the twin-scroll design increases power as each of the two scrolls on the turbine are fed by a separate exhaust passage which gives the engine immediate throttle response.

There are now two different 2.0litre turbo engines in the General Motors’ line-up: the award-winning turbo in the Regal GS; and the new 2.0litre turbo for the Cadillac ATS. GM has also confirmed that the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu will include a 2.0litre turbo engine.

General Motors believes its light electrification system – eAssist – may be the solution for two motoring issues. Not only could it boost vehicle efficiency, but it could also be beneficial for driving dynamics.

EAssist was initially introduced in the Buick line, but has since jumped across to Chevrolet with the introduction of the new Malibu Eco. When applied in the Malibu Eco, it boasts many improved components compared to earlier versions.

At the heart of the system is a 32-cell, 115V, 0.5kW lithium-ion battery pack that uses cylindrical optimised cells fromHitachi. There is also an electric motor-generator that provides 15kW of maximum generating power at 1,570-3,180rpm; 110lb-ft maximum electric motor torque; and 79lb-ft maximum electric motor torque at 1,000-2,200rpm. It is mounted to an Ecotec 2.4litre four-cylinder engine that provides motor assist and electric-generating functions.

It offers support to the Chevrolet Malibu Eco in four main ways: auto stop, with very smooth engine stops and restarts; up to 15hp of electric assist that puts the engine in a more efficient operating position; stored energy in the battery pack that offsets use of fuel; and very aggressive use of deceleration fuel cut-off.

Thanks in part to the eAssist the Malibu Eco achieves 12 per cent greater highway fuel economy than current models equipped with the 2.4litre engine. General Motors estimates fuel economy at 25mpg city and 37mpg highway.

The 2012 North American International Auto Show is shaping up to be a blockbuster event, with General Motors the latest in a long line of carmakers to announce new innovations for the motoring showcase.

It will introduce a high performance 2.0litre turbocharged four cylinder engine in the new 2013 Cadillac ATS compact luxury saloon car at Detroit. It will be one of the most power dense automotive engines, producing around 135hp per litre – meaning it beats the highest performing engines from luxury competitors such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes. 

The 2.0litre turbo engine also places the emphasis on improved efficiency which has been achieved largely due to friction reduction. Indeed overall engine friction is reduced by up to 16 per cent.

In addition, it has a host of exciting features, including: a twin scroll turbocharger with air-to-air intercooler; a direct injection twin-cam four valve per cylinder engine with continuously variable valve timing; a computer controlled two-stage variable displacement oil pump; and a forged-steel crankshaft with modular balance shaft system.

Furthermore, the engine has a wide torque curve, delivering 90 per cent of its peak 260lb-ft of torque from 1,500rpm to 5,800rpm.

Two of world’s motoring giants are thought to be in talks about a partnership for the development of fuel cell vehicles.

According to news reports from Germany, BMW and GM are thought to be in the advance stages of negotiations and could be announcing a partnership at the Detroit Motor in January next year. 

German magazine  Wirtschaftswoche reports that the partnership could see BMW access GM’s existing fuel cell technology and contribute to future development costs in return.

BMW has so far focused on hybrid and electric cars as part of its greener, alternative fuel strategy, and by joining with GM the German car maker would gain a hugely useful boost into the sector. Its rival, Daimler, already has plans to launch a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle by 2014.

General Motors has outlined its commitment to using carbon fibre in its vehicles by agreeing to co-develop advanced carbon fibre composite technologies with Teijin Limited.

Teijin is a leader in the carbon fibre and composites industry and its reinforced thermoplastic technology will be used as a faster, more efficient way to produce carbon fibre composites that could be potentially introduced on mainstream vehicles. Teijin is renowned for its ability to mass produce carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic components with cycle times of less than one minute. 

Carbon fibre is increasingly popular for use in automobile components because it is 10 times stronger than regular grade steel and only one quarter of the weight. Indeed consumers can benefit from lighter weight vehicles with better fuel economy and numerous safety benefits.

In an effort to support the relationship, Teijin will establish the Teijin Composites Application Centre in the northern part of the United States. It has already announced plans to launch a pilot plant for fully integrated production of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic components from its Matsuyama Factory in Ehime Prefecture, Japan.

The company recently received a 2011 Global Automotive Carbon Composites Technology Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan.

The success story of General Motors in China has continued in style after the company announced a 20.4 per cent increase in domestic sales, helping it to a November record of 237,130 vehicles delivered.

During the month, there was a rise in domestic demand for Shanghai GM vehicles – up 7.6 per cent to 113,120 units. Meanwhile, its other joint ventures also enjoyed success – SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales of mini commercial vehicles increased by 40.4 per cent year-on-year to 119,113 units.

There were impressive statistics for just about every General Motors brand. For example, Buick sales increased 16.6 per cent on an annual basis to a November record of 59,763 units with the Excelle passenger car family leading the field. Meanwhile, Chevrolet had its second best November ever in China with sales totalling 54,638 units and the Cruze remaining the brand’s best-selling model with demand reaching 21,862 units.

In addition, the Cadillac brand topped 3,000 sales for the first time in a single month as it saw its sales rise on an annual basis by 64.1 per cent to 3,008 units.

The dust has barely settled on the Tokyo Motor Show, but already attention has turned to the next huge date on the motoring calendar – with General Motors announcing four world premieres at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in January.

Also known as the Detroit Motor Show, the event will be the setting for GM to debut the new 2013 Cadillac ATS Compact luxury rear wheel drive saloon car that GM senior vice president of global product development Mary Barra has described as crucial to the brand’s expansion. The ATS will enter the largest market segment in terms of volume and importance – a sector traditionally dominated by German cars such as the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class.

In addition, Barra outlined how she has spent much of her time in charge, since being appointed around a year ago, looking at time seeking and executing efficiencies in the way GM develops its products. Core architectures accounted for 30 per cent of volume when she took over – but now cover 48 per cent of volume.

GM hopes to increase that to 60 per cent by 2014 and 90 plus per cent by 2018 with Barra stating that it is a similar situation with engine platforms. As recently as 2009 the company produced 20 different engine platforms around the world – and over the next several years it hopes to reduce that number to 10.

Yesterday we told you how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had opened a formal safety defect investigation to assess the risk of a battery related fire in the Chevrolet Volt (see article). Now, General Motors has moved to reassure customers about the vehicle’s safety.

At the time that the fires took place, Mary Barra, the GM vice president of global product development, commented that the carmaker had yet to implement a battery depowering procedure in the wake of a severe crash. However, it has subsequently developed a process to depower the Volt battery, which it has been using since July.

The depowering process starts when GM is informed of a Volt crash through OnStar. It then assesses the location of the vehicle and dispatches GM employees to the Volt – the team then hooks up a unit and drains the battery.

Now Barra has commented that although the engineering investigation into the precise cause of the fire was ongoing, GM believes that it is the electronics within the battery and not the chemistry of the battery.

During a conference call she stated that GM had established a senior engineering team to develop changes that will eliminate the concern of potential post-crash electrical fires. It will also work with the industry to ensure appropriate electric vehicle prototypes are in place. Notably she commented that this “isn’t just a Volt issue” and that GM is already leading a joint electric vehicle activity with the Society of Automotive Engineers and other automotive companies to address issues including the depowering of batteries.

In addition, Mark Reuss, the president of GM North America, stated that the company would take every precaution to ensure the safety of the Volt.