Dana Corporation Fuel-Cell-Powered Scooter A HIT at Hannover Industrial Fair

Dana Corporation Fuel-Cell-Powered Scooter A HIT at Hannover
Industrial Fair 


TOLEDO, Ohio, May 3  /PRNewswire/ -- A fuel-cell-powered scooter -- showcasing
critical technologies developed by Dana Corporation  -- was a featured
attraction at the recent Hannover Industrial Fair in Hannover, Germany.  Dana
said it plans to showcase the scooter at several industry events this year as
the company celebrates its 100th anniversary.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990903/DANA )

Dana developed a number of fuel-cell components on the scooter, including
bi-polar plates, end caps, heat exchangers, pumps, and valves.  Over the course
of the project, Dana developed several inventions and made numerous patentable
discoveries that hold promise for advancements in future generations of
components.

Designing and integrating components for the scooter provided Dana engineers
with further insight into the challenges that customers encounter when
constructing a fuel-cell system.

Dana Chairman and CEO Michael J. Burns said, "The valuable product and system
knowledge Dana gained with this project will benefit our fuel-cell customers
and partners as we take the next steps toward developing high-volume fuel-cell
components for stationary and automotive applications."

Combining expertise from the institute Zentrum fur Sonnenenergie- und
Wasserstoff-Forschung (ZSW) and motorcycle manufacturer Motorrad- und
Zweiradwerk GmbH (MZ), Dana scientists and engineers developed the future-
generation fuel-cell components incorporated into the scooter.

Dana experts from each of the company's five global Fuel Cell Support Centers
successfully created components that had never before been built for such an
application.  The project aided in understanding the complications involved
with a complete fuel-cell system.  It also allowed Dana's engineers and
scientists to test new theories and products in a real-life application and
within a challenging packaging environment.

"Dana has an established global network of support centers for fuel-cell
research, each with a specific area of product expertise," said Mike Laisure,
president of Dana's Automotive Systems Group.  "Our goal is to help fuel-cell
integrators succeed by making this a commercially viable power source for the
future."

The fuel-cell stack and system is based on ZSW's well proven PEM PowerBag
technology.  A research institute working in the field of renewable energies
and electrochemical energy technology ZSW, of Ulm, Germany, has nearly 15 years
of experience in fuel cell design, operation, and testing.  The company
integrated the Dana components in to the system and developed the
system-control unit and design.

The scooter is based on the Charly battery-powered scooter built and supplied
by MZ of Zschopau-Hohndorf, Germany.  In addition to providing the scooter, MZ
has assisted in providing custom designed frames, bodywork, and wiring to
support the fuel-cell system.

Dana Corporation is a global leader in the design, engineering, and manufacture
of value-added products and systems for automotive, commercial, and off-highway
vehicles.  Delivering on a century of innovation, the company's continuing
operations employ approximately 45,000 people worldwide dedicated to advancing
the science of mobility.  Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo, Ohio, Dana
operates technology, manufacturing, and customer-service facilities in 30
countries.  Sales from continuing operations totaled $7.9 billion in 2003. 
Dana's Internet address is http://www.dana.com/ . 

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DATASOURCE: Dana Corporation



CONTACT:  Jeff Cole of Dana Corporation, [phone],

or  



Web site:  http://www.dana.com/



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