* Partners in concrete talks on fuel-cells -Daimler R&D chief
* Daimler CEO - partners have found more ways to cooperate
* Daimler sees mass market fuel cell production by 2015
(Adds quotes, details)
By Helen Massy-Beresford
SHANGHAI, April 19 (Reuters) - German automaker Daimler
"Fuel cell technology is also electric so it could make a lot of sense to join forces also in this field," Thomas Weber, board member for research and development at the maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars, said at the Shanghai auto show.
"We are really concretely discussing this topic," he said.
Renault, Nissan and Daimler signed a deal a year ago to swap small stakes in each other and jointly develop cars in a tie-up they said at the time could lead to combined savings of 4 billion euros ($5.8 billion) over five years. [ID:nLDE6361D5]
Partnerships are essential in the car industry, as players struggle to stay ahead of new technology developments and emissions-cutting legislation, and teaming up allows them to share costs and risk.
"We are in a concrete product development phase, so therefore we are discussing concrete projects on the fuel cell side, bundling resources so that we could come faster to the market," Weber said.
The partners could work together on the "stacks" where energy is produced inside the fuel cell, Weber added.
"The idea could be based on a lot of knowledge on all sides of the alliance to find these components where we can join forces, harmonise technologies," he said, adding the move would help to cut down initial costs when the technology was launched.
Weber said fuel-cell cars could become a reality for the mass market by 2015. "The technology is there -- in 2015 latest we will start volume production."
Weber said pure electric vehicle technology would definitely be needed too to meet tightening emissions legislation, but that the advantages of fuel-cell technology were its shorter charging time, longer range and need for fewer charging stations in each market.
Renault and Nissan are betting heavily on electric vehicle technology, jointly investing 4 billion euros in EVs as part of their long-standing alliance. Nissan's electric Leaf is already on sale while Renault is due to launch its first electric models later this year.
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche had earlier told journalists the three car makers were looking at ways to cooperate beyond the projects they set out when they signed their deal, and could use the partnership to help electric vehicle component sourcing.
The groups are on track with their initial plans to cooperate, which included small cars and engines, Zetsche said.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast) ($1 = 0.692 Euros)