French automotive supplier Plastic Omnium (PO, Levallois; www.plasticomnium.com) is presenting a high-pressure hydrogen storage prototype at the Paris Motor Show 2016 ("Mondial de l'Automobile"; www.mondial-automobile.com), being held from 1 to 16 October at Paris / France. The unit demonstrates a significant move for PO in positioning itself as a player in vehicle propulsion systems using hydrogen and fuel cells with very low precious metal content. Use of these can lead to an associated reduction in weight of up to 30%, with increased use of composites in body parts and structural elements, combined with supercapacitors to provide efficient energy.

PO and Israeli high technology and defence company Elbit Systems (Haifa; www.elbitsystems.com) have established a start-up, POCellTech, working with fuel cells and supercapacitors, at a joint research centre recently opened in Caesarea / Israel.

Research by PO into automotive autonomy and recharge times is being stepped up, with the company working with organisations such as France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, The Israeli Institute of Technology and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

Finally, PO is launching the construction of an advanced research centre, Deltatech, focused on new energies. Based in Brussels / Belgium, the centre will be funded through a EUR 50m investment and will employ 200 engineers. It is scheduled to open in 2019.