Shanghai (ZXZC)- Great Wall Motor (GWM) has to-day invested 2 billion yuan ($304.822 million) in the R&D of hydrogen energy business and will pour another 3 billion yuan ($457.233 million) over the next three years, the company said on March 29 at the launching ceremony for its hydrogen strategy.

Meanwhile, the company announced it will launch its first hydrogen fuel cell SUV model and roll out 100 hydrogen heavy trucks this year.

Photo credit: Great Wall Motor

GWM aims to launch a hydrogen-powered premium passenger car fleet next year to serve the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and extend application of hydrogen energy into commercial vehicles like heavy-duty trucks and logistics vehicles. In addition, the automaker wishes to overtake most automakers in China by the promotion volume of main system integrators in 2023, and crack the top three in terms of the market share of global hydrogen market in 2025.

At the launching ceremony, GWM officially launched the “Qingning” technology, an automotive-grade hydrogen power system solution, which has three technology platforms dedicated to hydrogen-generated electricity, fuel cell stack and hydrogen storage. Using the technology, hydrogen refueling can be completed within only three minutes and support a driving distance of over 900km, said the company. The “Qingning” can also make a vehicle's power system be activated even under a freezing temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius.

As part of efforts to develop hydrogen technology and applications, GWM has built five R&D centers in Canada, Japan, Germany and China’s Shanghai and Baoding. It also formed partnership with many companies and institutes, such as Air Liquide, Linde, W. L. Gore & Associates, Bosch, Tsinghua University and Tongji University, for the business.