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CEO Roland Gumpert - Copyright GUMPERT AIWAYS AUTOMOBILE GmbH

"There will be enough methanol in the future that will not be more expensive than diesel fuel."

As a senior engineer at Audi, Roland Gumpert became a legend with the development of the successful Audi Quattro. After three successful decades at Audi, Gumpert has been pursuing its own ambitious goals since 2004. He remains loyal to sports car manufacturing and, with the Apollo, develops the fastest sports car with road approval in 2005. He has been pursuing the most recent and most ambitious goal since GUMPERT AIWAYS AUTOMOBILE GmbH was founded as a joint venture with the Chinese automobile manufacturer AIWAYS in 2017. The methanol fuel cell from his point of view is the concept of the future for long-haul mobility on land, water and in the air. In an interview, Roland Gumpert reveals which ambitious goals are being pursued and how they are to be implemented.

gcm: A main problem with the fuel cell concepts compared to the purely electric cars are the transformation, transport and storage costs of the hydrogen. In studies of the last few years, the energy consumption of fuel cell cars per 100 km is significantly higher than that of electric cars. From your point of view, why should the approach with the methanol fuel cell be pursued further?

Roland Gumpert : We are an electric car / ship / train or airplane and our energy source is electricity, with which we drive the “mobile”. We also have a battery in the mobile for this, but it can be much smaller and much lighter than a “normal electric mobile”. This battery can be charged at any charging station and of course you can also drive it. You set off with this battery. If the battery is too small for the distance you want to cover, our “Gumpert Power Train” (methanol-hydrogen fuel cell) charges the battery. The mobile is therefore connected to an "invisible" charging cable! As with any conventional petrol / diesel car, the distance that can be covered depends on the size of the tank. The more tank capacity, the longer you can drive. The tank is filled with green methanol to which 40% pure water is added. 1/3 of our energy is generated from the hydrogen in the water mixed with it! From the methanol and pure water (60% / 40%) we generate hydrogen in the vehicle (on board) completely safely and without great pressure. The hydrogen meets the oxygen in the ambient air and becomes water (H2O). The by-product is electricity that is used to drive and / or charge the battery.

Nathalie First Edition - Copyright GUMPERT AIWAYS AUTOMOBILE GmbH
Nathalie First Edition - Copyright GUMPERT AIWAYS AUTOMOBILE GmbH

gcm: The relocation of hydrogen production from methanol to the vehicle inevitably results in higher production costs per unit. Can you expect your new drive to be used primarily in the truck, train or aircraft sectors in the long term and in which projects will your concept be implemented over the next few years?

Roland Gumpert :

The fact that we can use a much smaller battery than a “normal” electric vehicle saves us a lot of money. According to our calculations, our "mobile" (vehicle) is the same price, up to a maximum of 5% more! Our technology works on land, on water and in the air.
We are currently concentrating on long-distance distances (200 to / over 1000 km) in the truck and bus sector and on the sports car sector with our Nathalie as a marketing project.

gcm: The methanol fuel cell in the transport sector needs a sensible economic framework to be ready for the market. Which incentives can have a positive impact on the market launch?

Roland Gumpert : Have you ever heard that "all of Europe" does not have enough copper to lay all the power cables in Germany that are necessary for the charging stations to charge all electric cars in Germany?
Can you tell me how much the “poor taxpayer” in Germany will have to pay for the expansion of charging stations in Germany over the next few years?
Can you tell me where all the (green) electricity for future electric cars should come from?

Converting a petrol pump from petrol or diesel to methanol only costs around € 1500.
There are around 17000 petrol stations in Germany. For the ridiculous investment of around € 25 million, we would have 17000 methanol tank options in Germany. The petrol station owners are all happy if they now want to maintain their main source of income, the “supermarket” and petrol station operations! If you produce 1 liter of petrol or diesel, approx. 80% of the original energy is lost. It is similar with methanol. The argument that too much energy is lost in methanol production is completely absurd. All methanol producers worldwide are starting to convert their methanol production to green methanol. There will be enough methanol in the future that will not be more expensive than diesel fuel.

gcm: Thank you very much, Mr. Gumpert.

Addendum

Interview from September 2021

Cover picture - CEO Roland Gumpert - Copyright GUMPERT AIWAYS AUTOMOBILE GmbH

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