Dana and Bosch have announced the signing of a long-term cooperation agreement to mass produce metallic bipolar plates for fuel-cell stacks. Dana says its licensed intellectual property will serve as the foundation for the companies to co-develop and co-produce the metallic bipolar plates, an integral component in the fuel cell stack. Bosch says its fuel cell stack system know-how will enable both companies to further improve the bipolar plates design; in addition to the company’s expertise in mass production, especially on laser welding, testing and automation concepts.

To address increasing market demand, the total production volume will exceed 100 million metallic bipolar plates for Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. The companies say they expect the plates to support fuel-cell powertrains for commercial vehicle applications beginning in 2022.