Stellantis to introduce its first hydrogen-powered vehicle in the North American market

April 30, 2024

European-American vehicle maker Stellantis — which owns brands such as Chrysler, Fiat, Citroën and Maserati — is to launch its first hydrogen-powered vehicle in the US, according to the groups’s head of H2, Jean-Michel Billig.

Back in February, Stellantis unveiled hydrogen-powered versions of eight of its existing battery-electric vans for the European market, and almost immediately announced it had received an ‘unprecedented order’ for 150 of them from French company Hysetco.

The company now plans to significantly expand production for fuel-cell commercial vehicles to 100,000 units per year by 2030 — even though it has so far only sold 350 units — and will introduce its first hydrogen-powered vehicle in North America, a Ram pick-up truck, Billig told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

“This year, we are starting production of larger vehicles in Poland, and development in North America is expected to follow quickly — especially with the large Ram 5500 in a fuel-cell version,” he said, adding that the new model will be manufactured in Mexico.

The Ram 5500 is a large pick-up truck, or chassis cab, aimed at the professional market, which comes with a skateboard-like back end, upon which the buyer can build any number of “bodies”.

It is only currently available with a petrol or diesel engine.

California would almost certainly be the key market for the Ram 5500, as it is the only place in North America with a significant number of H2 filling stations — a total of 54.

“In the coming decade, we expect a significant market share for this [hydrogen] technology, and in commercial vehicles it could be up to 40%,” Billig added.

However, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said earlier this month that the cost of hydrogen mobility is “sky-high” and “far from being affordable”.

Ram — one of Stellantis’ 14 brands — which was created as a commercial-vehicle spin-off from fellow Stellantis brand Dodge in 2010.

Stellantis’ other brands are Peugeot, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Opel, Vauxhall, Lancia, DS and Abarth.

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