Hyzon Motors ramps up its hydrogen truck operations

Hyzon Motors has said it is ramping up its operations, and by doing so is on track to deliver 85 hydrogen trucks to Europe by the end of 2021. The US-based company on Wednesday (August 12) said it is currently preparing to start its first customer trials in the US, as well as shipping the first trucks to European customers.

Such efforts are in the wake of its merger with blank-check firm Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp, a decision Hyzon publicised in February to help its strategy in the hydrogen transportation sector.

As well as manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles themselves, Hyzon is also investing in hydrogen fuel production hubs, a key piece of infrastructure for technology uptake.

Supporting this, the company in April signed a joint venture deal with renewable fuels company Raven SR for up to 100 hydrogen production hubs. Gordon confirmed the first two will be in the Bay Area.

As with many other transportation companies that have gone public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition fund, Hyzon doesn’t yet have any revenue to speak of. Instead, the company said it is banking on the huge injection of capital from the transaction and growing customer orders to take it to positive cash flow.

“Whereas, earlier I would have said, it’s a 12-to-18 month process to go from getting your first fuel cell truck and trying it out and then maybe getting a few more and figuring out what fleet conversion would look like over time, and then kicking off that fleet conversion process — I actually think that’s compressing,” Knight added.