Stellantis has discontinued its hydrogen gas cell expertise growth program, citing restricted refueling infrastructure, excessive capital necessities, and inadequate shopper buying incentives. The automotive producer introduced it doesn’t count on hydrogen-powered mild business autos to achieve traction earlier than the tip of the last decade.
The choice means Stellantis will cancel the launch of its new hydrogen-powered Professional One automobile vary, which was scheduled to start manufacturing this summer season. Manufacturing was deliberate to begin at amenities in Hordain, France for medium-sized vans and Gliwice, Poland for big vans.
“In a context the place the Firm is mobilizing to reply to demanding CO2 laws in Europe, Stellantis has determined to discontinue its hydrogen gas cell expertise growth program,” mentioned Jean-Philippe Imparato, Chief Working Officer for Enlarged Europe. “The hydrogen market stays a distinct segment phase, with no prospects of mid-term financial sustainability. We should clarify and accountable selections to make sure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our prospects with our electrical and hybrid passenger and light-weight business autos offensive.”
The corporate confirmed that staffing at manufacturing websites will stay unaffected, with analysis and growth actions associated to hydrogen expertise being redirected to different initiatives. Stellantis has additionally initiated discussions with shareholders of Symbio to guage market penalties and protect the corporate’s pursuits.
Stellantis at the moment affords a hydrogen gas cell model of the big Vauxhall Movano within the UK, with the mid-size Vivaro van initially scheduled to launch later this yr. Each autos can be found in left-hand drive markets below the corporate’s Professional One van umbrella, which incorporates Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and Vauxhall manufacturers.
“It’s not the correct time to push hydrogen. There isn’t any funding in incentives and infrastructure, so we aren’t pushing it commercially,” mentioned Fedele Ragusa, Stellantis senior product supervisor, chatting with Fleet Information.
The transfer represents a part of a broader evaluation of the corporate’s world decarbonization technique, which has shifted away from the earlier goal of turning into 100% zero emission by 2030, a purpose launched by former CEO Carlos Tavares.
As a substitute, Stellantis is specializing in a multi-energy technique combining full electrical and inner combustion engines, plus “one thing within the center,” in keeping with Ragusa. This intermediate choice is more likely to be plug-in hybrid or vary extender expertise.
“We’re not prepared but, nevertheless it’s a change in comparison with the previous,” Ragusa mentioned. “We expect that hybridisation is an efficient choice.”
The corporate is prioritizing battery electrical automobile enhancements, specializing in cell effectivity, lightness and power density. Stellantis has upgraded the AC charging capabilities on its vans to 22kW as customary, matching the kind of chargers fleets are putting in at depots. A whole cost can now be achieved in six hours, half the time of the earlier 11kW answer.
