French energy firm Total invests in Hyzon Motors
The Total Group, together with other investors, has taken a stake in Hyzon Motors, a US developer of fuel cell commercial vehicles. Nothing was announced regarding the actual investment sum.
The funds now collected will be used to support Hyzon’s production and engineering centres in Honeoye Falls (New York State), Groningen (Netherlands) and Shanghai (China). No concrete development goals are mentioned in the announcement.
However, Hyzon Motors’ production targets are. With plants in North America, Europe and Asia, Hyzon expects to deliver around 5,000 fuel cell trucks and buses in the next three years, according to its own statements. By 2025, this figure should rise to more than 40,000 fuel cell vehicles per year.
Hyzon Motors only started operations in March 2020, and in July opened the European headquarters in Groningen. Hyzon Motors was founded as a subsidiary of the Singaporean fuel cell manufacturer Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles drastically. In the spring, the company’s product range included fuel cell commercial vehicles ranging from light vans and buses to 140-ton ‘road trains’.
Because of its affiliation with Horizon, Hyzon itself speaks of 17 years of experience in fuel cell development, more precisely in proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology (PEM). “While we already have around 400 buses and trucks on the road with our fuel cells today, the global appetite for zero-emission heavy vehicles has grown significantly, and Hyzon is now ramping operations to meet this demand,” says Craig Knight, CEO and co-founder of Hyzon Motors.
“Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures invests in early-stage companies which support Total’s ambition to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, together with society,” said Girish Nadkarni, CEO of the venture arm of the petrochemical company. “Its investments allow us to expand the reach of our low carbon- businesses beyond our own borders.” Total is one of the co-founders of H2 Mobility, along with other industry partners, to develop a hydrogen ecosystem for the mobility sector in Europe.
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