Toyota, CaetanoBus & Air Liquide to push hydrogen mobility in Europe

Toyota accelerates the development of hydrogen mobility in Europe and signed an MoU with Air Liquide and bus manufacturer Caetano. The aim is to develop integrated solutions, combining hydrogen production and infrastructure with vehicle fleets of light and heavy commercial vehicles.

In the statement, Toyota speaks of “integrated ecosystems where both hydrogen supply and vehicle demand are provided simultaneously”. With Air Liquide on board, the carmaker receives help in infrastructure. Bus maker Caetano represents the initial focus on buses, while Toyota adds light commercial vehicles and passenger cars, expanding to heavy commercial vehicles in the future. The statement also mentions leasing and service offers to customers such as taxi companies, fleet operators, local authorities, and others.

Their MoU just signed targets hydrogen mobility projects in “several European countries” without disclosing the locations. There is also no mention of a timeline.

Matthieu Giard, Vice President, member of the Executive Committee of Air Liquide, called the partnership “essential to create efficient ecosystems that will foster the emergence of hydrogen mobility in Europe.”

Matt Harrison, President & CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, expects the joint work to “gradually reduce the costs of hydrogen and its infrastructure while improving the business case for many future applications, including mobility.”

Patrícia Vasconcelos, CEO of CaetanoBus, added that their goal was “to continuously develop new hydrogen buses, to reduce the carbon footprint in the cities. If we can do it in partnership to create a full ecosystem, the better it is because energy transitions are only effective with true alignment between companies, countries, and policies.”

CaetanoBus is part of Toyota Caetano Portugal and Mitsui & Co, and this new MoU follow on from the existing collaboration. CaetanoBus  reportedly uses Toyota’s fuel cell technology for its H2 buses. Since the summer of 2021, the Portuguese company’s hydrogen and battery-electric buses have also carried the Toyota logo. Most recently, Toyota and Caetano, together with Italy’s Snam launched a similar project to the one above and signed the MoU in October last year.

Air Liquide is active across Europe and internationally and part of various projects to foster hydrogen mobility, in particular, the heavy-duty segment.