Alternate Energy: GAC Unveils Liquid Ammonia Engine for Cleaner Mobility

Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), a Chinese state-owned manufacturer, has unveiled a prototype engine that utilizes liquid ammonia as a fuel, presenting a potential alternative to electricity and hydrogen. The unveiling was done at the firm’s annual flagship conference.

The development of this innovative internal combustion engine (ICE) is a result of collaboration between GAC and Toyota. The concept draws inspiration from the maritime and haulage sectors, which have been exploring ammonia as a substitute for diesel in container ships and trucks.

The newly designed 2-litre four-cylinder engine generates 161 bhp (120 kW) of power while emitting 90 per cent less carbon, offering an efficient, reliable, and low-carbon fuel alternative for the automobile industry, as stated by GAC. Although not the first engine to run on ammonia, it is the first one proposed for potential use in passenger cars.

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Concerns Over Ammonia Engine in Cars

Work on ammonia as an alternative energy solution in cars had previously been focused mainly on heavy-duty vehicles like trucks. Being a highly toxic substance, ammonia required a high-safety architecture that was previously unavailable in passenger cars. Thanks to technological developments, safety protocols for ammonia are already in place for some industries. GAC hopes to deploy its ammonia car engine technology on a larger scale commercially very soon. Such a vehicle will however need to scale several safety requirements from regulatory bodies before it becomes a reality.

Ammonia, commonly associated with fertilizers, has garnered attention due to its combustible properties for future transportation requirements. It possesses approximately half the energy density of petrol, with 3.6 kWh per litre, but produces no carbon, hydrocarbon, or CO2 emissions when combusted.

Although ammonia production traditionally requires significant energy input, recent advancements have enabled the production of green ammonia on a smaller scale. This environmentally friendly method utilizes renewable energy sources, resulting in carbon-free output. The big advantage? Currently it requires much less energy input than say, Hydrogen.

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More than two-thirds of the global annual ammonia production is utilized in agriculture as a fertilizer. Additionally, ammonia finds applications as a refrigerant gas and is used in the manufacturing of plastics, textiles, explosives, and pesticides.

A Slew of Unveilings

At the same event, GAC also introduced Trumpchi E9, the industry’s first passenger vehicle to use liquid hydrogen fuel. Equipped with GAC’s Mega Waves Hybrid Modular Architecture, the hydrogen-powered MPV has a range of nearly 600km and travels up to 100km on 1.4kg of hydrogen. Additionally, GAC also announced its GOVE (GAC On-the-Go Vertical EV), an all-electric flying vehicle.

ADiGO MAGIC, a revolutionary in-car open-source software platform was also unveiled. The platform provides more than 2,000 service-oriented functions to build immediate and personalized travel scenarios for users, and will be equipped on the soon-to-be-released AION Hyper GT, the official statement reveals.

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The GAC Group was founded in 1954. The company was the fifth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 2.144 million sales, in 2021.