GLOBE Fuel Cell Systems is a fast-growing German GreenTech company from Stuttgart, South-Germany who has made their mission to support the industry on their way to decarbonization into a carbon-neutral future with green technology Made in Germany. GLOBE has their roots in fuel cell R&D and the innovation division of Mercedes-Benz. The company was founded in December 2020 and is part of 1886Ventures.
Interview with Ralf Glaser, Chief Marketing Officer & Chief Communication Officer at 1886Ventures.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Ralf Glaser: We develop emission-free, digitally connected fuel cell systems for industrial applications such as intralogistics, in the marine sector as well as for emergency power generators. Furthermore, GLOBE Fuel Cell Systems is a leading engineering and production partner of maritime fuel cell systems for global industry players.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
R.G: In June 2022 GLOBE Fuel Cell Systems presented the GLOBE XLP80 – the fuel cell unit for intralogistics. A fuel cell power unit specially developed for intralogistics, such as forklifts. We have announced the market launch for the GLOBE XLP80 in the 80 voltage class as Q1 2023
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
R.G: The GLOBE XLP80 fuel cell unit is the first product available. Another fuel cell genset from the modular XLP series in the 48 voltage class will follow in late 2023.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
R.G: The total intralogistics market currently comprises more than 1.5 million vehicles worldwide. Of these, 100,000 units are accounted for by the European market, and the trend is rising due to the general expansion of logistics activities.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
R.G: Already in 2027, nearly every second vehicle in Europe will be powered by hydrogen-based fuel cell units. With our GLOBE XLP80, we aim to achieve a significant share in this market development.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
R.G: The advantages of our GLOBE XLP80 are obvious because significant productivity gains can be achieved. The system can be refueled with hydrogen in less than 5 minutes and can be used immediately afterwards. This eliminates hours of battery charging time and reduces the downtime of intralogistics vehicles, minimizes their number and increases the flexibility of the overall system. In addition, the fuel cell system continuously delivers consistent power. Unlike conventional lead-acid batteries, which show a drop in performance from a charge level of less than 50%.
The GLOBE XLP80 also eliminates the management of peak power demand during fast charging of newer lithium-ion batteries. The elimination of battery swap stations and swap sheds provides more space for customers own value-added processes.
In addition to the technical advantages of the fuel cell technology, each system has an integrated GLOBE “DataCore”. This enables various performance and sensor data to be transferred online to the cloud.
The data obtained in this way ensures optimized operation and high availability of the systems, since, for example, maintenance scopes can be anticipated in advance. Furthermore, in the future the system can be optimized to the needs of the respective customer and possible CO2 savings can be better utilized.
Due to GLOBE’s roots in the automotive industry, all systems are developed to the highest quality automotive standards and are designed to operate for 20,000 working hours. For comparison – a conventional lead-acid battery has an average runtime of 6,000-7,000 working hours.