Liebherr-Aerospace has been selected by a major automotive manufacturer based in China to develop an electrical turbo-compressor and its power electronics for the next generation of a fuel cell-powered car that can transport up to five persons. The contract covers the development and the validation of an electrical turbo-compressor including power electronics, as well as the supply of prototypes.
Liebherr has a long-term strategy to enlarge its footprint in China. For more than one decade, the company has been collaborating with major automotive manufacturers to develop the future generation of fuel cell vehicles. Liebherr-Aerospace’s air bearings technology for centrifugal compressor developed for aerospace activities powered by a high-speed electric motor has been identified as the best candidate to supply compressed and pressurized air to the fuel cell system.
Liebherr’s motorized compressor complies with the severe requirements of fuel cell systems for the automotive industry: it does not require oil, compact in size, optimized in cost and noise emissions, and features a fast dynamic response. This has been demonstrated in the field where more than one hundred vehicles using motorized turbo compressors by Liebherr have run millions of miles without any failure since 2007.
