Former Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller has changed companies and moved to Nikola. At the end of February 2022, the US commercial vehicle manufacturer announced that Lohscheller had been appointed president of the company. So after just four months as managing director of Vietnamese automaker VinFast, he resigned from this office. Prior to that, he had spent four years running Opel Automobile GmbH.
The expansion of the company is proceeding according to plan. Prototypes will be delivered so that customers can familiarize themselves with the vehicles (battery-electric and hydrogen-powered). The first successes can be reported: ten MCTs (Mobile Charging Trailers) have already been delivered (1.9 million USD in sales), which can fully charge battery-electric trucks in a hundred minutes.
Nikola Motors needs to be understood/categorized as a start-up in the process of implementing its business plan. The construction of its factory in Coolidge, Arizona is underway, and the first battery–electric trucks (BEV trucks) are already with customers. This year should see 300 to 500 of these, along with sufficient capacity for 2,400, which should reach 20,000 by 2023. In Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, the number of units produced by partner Iveco is to increase from 2,000 to 10,000.
A comfortable (yet still exciting) ride
So far, Hyundai has shipped a total of 10,000 Nexo cars. Since launching a fuel cell model in March 2018, the South Korean automaker has delivered more FCEVs than any other vehicle manufacturer in the world. This July alone, an additional 700 Nexo vehicles went to customers in South Korea and 89 were exported to countries around the world. H2-international was given the opportunity to test a Nexo car this summer. The conclusion: If it had a lower price tag and there was a fueling station nearby, the Nexo would be the perfect ride.
VDMA study analyzes fuel cell vehicle market
Starting in 2030, fuel cells will be making significant inroads in the passenger car, commercial vehicle and heavy equipment markets. Their importance, as well as the required hydrogen infrastructure, will grow steadily in the coming years, mainly thanks to heavy-duty applications. By 2040, the technology will power 12 percent of all vehicles sold in those markets, creating 68,000 new jobs in Europe in the process. These are the key takeaways from “Engine of change – Fuel cells’ impact on the machinery and industrial equipment industry and its suppliers,” a study conducted by FEV Consulting for Germany’s national engineering federation VDMA. Unlike battery-electric motors, fuel cells have quite a lot in common with internal combustion engines when it comes to production and supply chains, a boon to traditional automakers and machinery manufacturers.
Who can make the most of hydrogen and fuel cells? This question seems to have sparked a fierce competition between several German government ministries since late 2019 as they are vying with each other for control over the debate. Their tug-of-war began spreading through the political landscape when hydrogen became an issue to campaign on early this year, prior to the Hamburg state elections. Although the Christian Democrats were the ones who actively promoted the technology for a while, public opinion seems to have shifted in favor of what the Social Democrats are planning to do with it.
I’m a hydronaut. No, that’s not a term for an underwater astronaut, but a term Honda uses to describe me, as one of their Clarity Fuel Cell electric vehicle (FCEV) drivers on California’s road today. Between three automakers (Honda, Toyota, Hyundai) there are now over 7,000 (Aug 1, 2019) FCEV’s on the road.
Meeting the German federal government’s ambitious climate target, that is, a 95 percent reduction in GHG emissions until 2050 compared to a 1990 baseline, will require a decarbonized transportation sector. Cars powered by conventional engines must be replaced by low-emission versions. The two most promising substitutes are battery-electric vehicles or BEVs and fuel cell vehicles or FCEVs.
Not only has the second generation of Hyundai’s fuel cell car been unveiled earlier than expected, the price has already been set as well. The first event featuring the Next Gen Fuel Cell was moved up half a year and took place in mid-August in South Korea’s capital Seoul. The car scheduled to hit the market in early 2018 will cost EUR 54,000 (USD 62,712) outside South Korea
People need to experience electric transportation on their own, something which is true for drivers of both battery and fuel cell cars. At least an adequate number of purely battery-driven vehicles have already made it onto the public roads in Germany. But how can people today gather their own personal experiences of driving fuel cell vehicles?