Great Wall subsidiary receives major order for FC trucks
This first batch will comprise 400 fuel cell vehicles for the city’s waste management services and 500 additional FCEV trucks. Delivery of the remaining 3,000 vehicles, 500 of which will be sanitation vehicles, is scheduled for 2025.
However, details of the vehicles and the technical specifications of the drive systems are not known, nor are the deal’s financial terms. The China Hydrogen Bulletin speculates that new business models played a decisive role. “The financial lease business model, benefiting from prevailing low interest rate environment in China, could drastically reduce initial CAPEX for related companies- a major barrier for FCEVs deployment,” the report says.
FTXT’s announcement states that the consortium will “capitalise on the natural resources and policy advantages of Baoding City, integrating their expertise in financial services, high-end manufacturing, and urban operations.” Financial services are thus mentioned but not specified.
Regardless of the exact financing, the number of units is considerable, even by Chinese standards. The fuel cell sector is already more established in commercial vehicles in China than in Europe, but orders for just under 4,000 vehicles are still rare in China. FTXT emphasises that “this agreement is a significant step in the close collaboration between the Chinese government and businesses to jointly advance the hydrogen energy industry.”
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