China may rank just eighth on the world list of natural gas vehicle (NGV) nations, but significant, consistent growth is expected there in the coming years. NGVs are viewed as a path to hydrogen and as such will continue to be promoted by the Chinese government, Jinhua Zhang, VP at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said at EVS-22, the world electric vehicles meeting that took place in Yokohama, Japan, just last month.
China’s strategy, Jinhua said, is to “popularize and use [natural] gas vehicles and diversify traffic fuels while getting prepared for infrastructure switch” — to hydrogen. Also at EVS-22, Toyota detailed development of its own high-pressure (700 bar) fuel cylinder for hydrogen, and Nissan reported on tests of 700 bar tanks made by Canada’s Dynetek Industries, noting particularly the need to evaluate the effects of serious temperature excursions, upward when fueling and downward as fuel is used, on interior tank parts.
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