KEYOU New hydrogen engine alliance: KEYOU starts strategic partnership with KST-Motorenversuch and establishes “H2 Development and Test Center” in Rhineland-Palatinate
München, 18. November 2020,
While the COVID 19 pandemic is causing considerable economic difficulties for companies in many places – especially in the automotive industry – KEYOU continues to grow successfully. After the Clean Mobility start-up recently relocated its corporate headquarters from rural Unterschleissheim to Munich, it is now establishing a new “H2 Development and Test Center” in Rhineland-Palatinate in the context of a strategic partnership with KST-Motorenversuch GmbH & Co. KG. For the Munich-based high-tech company, the partnership with the experienced test bench operator is another important milestone, especially after the recent funding and participation of the European Union in the company.Rhineland-Palatinate is a strategically favorable location for the Munich-based hydrogen specialists. On the one hand due to the expertise of the new partner KST-Motorenversuch, on the other hand due to the support of politics. After all, Rhineland-Palatinate is considered one of the model states, when it comes to hydrogen. Only recently, Rhineland-Palatinate’s Minister of Economics and Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Volker Wissing announced at a press conference that, above all, the development of hydrogen engines for the commercial vehicle sector, which is strong in the state, is to be promoted. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Reiff, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KST, also shares the view of the Minister of Economic Affairs: “In my view, it makes more than sense to take the path to a CO2-neutral, green mobility future via the hydrogen engine, since we Europeans have an excellently functioning supply chain for combustion engines and series production for commercial vehicles can be realized in the short term.The strategic partnership with KST, a company with a long tradition, offers KEYOU – in addition to the favorable political framework – the opportunity to meet the increasing number of customer inquiries from engine and vehicle manufacturers. The cooperation also offers both companies sufficient growth potential for the future. “The demand for hydrogen combustion engines has risen drastically in recent months, certainly also due to the increasing support from politicians. In the coming year, we even expect to double our number of projects. We are happy that with KST we now have a strong partner from the automotive industry on our side who builds and operates test benches for hydrogen engines and components for KEYOU. We are thus setting the course for future growth and at the same time can increase our test bench capacities already at short notice. We are convinced that both sides will benefit from this strategic cooperation in the long term,” says Thomas Korn, CEO and co-founder of KEYOU.The “H2 Development and Test Center”, as the location in Bad Dürkheim is called, is the second pillar of the Clean Mobility Start-Up, in addition to the new offices in downtown Munich. While the majority of employees will remain at the headquarters in Munich, there is also a fixed number of KEYOU engineers in Bad Dürkheim who will be supported on site by experienced KST employees.“We are very pleased to be able to offer KEYOU, the ‘hydrogen pioneer’, an innovative development and test platform on almost historic ground in automotive development history, and thus to be able to work together on the successful turnaround in mobility,” explains Prof. Dr. Gerhard Reiff, Chairman of the Management Board of KST-Motorenversuch GmbH & Co. KG.
About KEYOUKEYOU is a successful high-tech company operating in the field of clean mobility, which develops innovative hydrogen technologies, more specifically hydrogen components for engine and vehicle manufacturers. These technologies enable conventional engines to be transformed cost-effectively into emission-free hydrogen engines – without significant modifications to the base engine.The new “green” combustion engine with KEYOU-inside technology means zero emissions, efficiency, and economy at the same time – without compromising on performance, capacity, or range. Vehicles with hydrogen engines are considered zero-emission vehicles according to EU standards. The technology is engine and manufacturer-independent, scalable, and can be used for both on- and off-road but ultimately for all applications that use a combustion engine. The current focus is on commercial vehicle engines.
About KST-MotorenversuchFor more than five decades KST-Motorenversuch has been supporting its national and international customers in the automotive sector as an independent development service provider and test facility operator. With about 200 highly qualified employees KST-Motorenversuch operates a modern and flexible test facility with 85 test benches for passenger car, commercial vehicle and large engines. For the development and testing of automotive drive trains for hybrid and electric drives, KST-Motorenversuch provides a specialized development test field with state-of-the-art measuring technology and develops innovative test procedures in this dynamic environment together with its customers. KST accompanies the dynamic process of change into the mobility of the future by targeted, timely developments and investments in the necessary validation procedures.These serve to ensure the reliability of the new drive concepts such as hydrogen burners and fuel cells for onroad and offroad applications. As a medium-sized family-run company, our customers benefit from quick decisions, short distances and efficient service.