Pure Hydrogen is advancing its ambition to be a leader in the hydrogen sector by acquiring a 24% stake in fuel cell pioneer H2X Global.

The agreement recognises the value of H2X’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid technology, which powers its Warrego ute that is expected to be on sale in the first half of 2022, and will see the two companies establish a joint venture company, Pure X Mobility, that will develop and sell hydrogen fuel cell trucks and buses such as waste disposal trucks and concrete agitators.

Pure Hydrogen (ASX:PH2) is acquiring the stake in H2X through the issue of 8.2 million shares with some escrow conditions and will receive share options that will take its interest up to 48% if exercised.

It will also become the preferred supplier of hydrogen to H2X.

Pure Hydrogen managing director Scott Brown noted that H2X is at the forefront of the ground-breaking innovation that hydrogen represents in the automotive sector given its potential to cut fuel costs by up to 30% compared to diesel.

“Partnering with H2X not only makes good commercial sense but it also puts Pure Hydrogen in the driver’s seat to capitalise on new and evolving hydrogen technology,” he added.

“We believe this will be a good investment opportunity for Pure Hydrogen, we have achieved it with very minimal dilution and we can bring our strong balance sheet and funding channels as a public company to more aggressively fast-track H2X’s commercialisation plans.

“We are also very excited about the prospects for the Pure X Mobility and its planned focus on developing hydrogen fuel cell powered heavy vehicles such as cement mixers and garbage trucks.

“These industries are logical ‘starters’ for Pure X Mobility as they are short run operators where refuelling can be managed at back-to-base locations. Targeting sectors where we can rapidly bring heavy vehicles to market will be Pure X’s focus and makes logical commercial sense.”

H2X chief executive Brendan Norman added that working with an early mover like Pure Hydrogen would not only provide a solid foundation to build its network of customers, it would also align it with a significantly skilled scientific and technical partner to build a solid platform in Australia as a leading force in the rapidly growing global hydrogen economy.

“As technology leaders and innovators with a track record of bringing hydrogen-powered vehicles to market in what is a new and emerging global industry aligns well with Pure Hydrogen’s growth strategy,” Norman noted.

“We have an excellent platform in place to rapidly bring a range of vehicles to market in relatively short order.”

Hydrogen Initiatives

Pure Hydrogen’s investment in H2X is timely given its discussions with a range of large industrial users for back to base operations that are considering using hydrogen trucks.

It has also been working closely with well-known truck and bus manufacturers and is building a hydrogen ecosystem that can provide hydrogen solutions including trucks, buses and work vehicles together with the hydrogen fuel to power these vehicles.

The company noted that its agreement with H2X fast-tracked these negotiations and developments.

It added that it would shortly announce off-take and supply arrangements together with some additional partners to assist in the development and commercialisation of its multifaceted solution.

This comes as hydrogen demand is forecast to increase tenfold to more than 500 million tonnes by 2050.

Transportation is of special interest given that it is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally and has been identified as one of the primary early adopters of hydrogen.

Source: This article has originally appeared on Stockhead.

H2X Global is plotting its course to a major exchange listing and is pushing into new markets in a bid to establish itself as a global premium hydrogen vehicle manufacturer. 

The company, which is undertaking a small initial capital raising, is planning to roll out a series of products in the coming months that will show new ways of working with hydrogen and bring clean energy to many different applications in cities.

One of H2X’s products is a light duty (30-75 kilowatts) optimised hydrogen fuel cell hybrid powertrain aimed at drastically reducing the refuelling time, improving efficiency and increasing the driving range of a vehicle.

A hydrogen fuel cell is a device that generates electrical power by a chemical reaction via conversion of fuel (hydrogen) into electricity.

Fuel cells allow a vehicle to be refuelled in a similar way and speed to traditional petrol-run vehicles.

H2X’s initial target market is high-use vehicles for commercial and sharing purposes where the availability of the vehicle is key.

The company says a fuel cell vehicle is more convenient and effective than a battery electric vehicle because it significantly reduces the time a vehicle is off the road for refuelling, which is crucial for commercial vehicles.

Explaining H2X’s approach to market, CEO Brendan Norman said the company worked with hydrogen infrastructure providers to establish ecosystems that were cost effective from the start.

“We look to offer multiple applications of vehicles to make it easy to reach a critical mass in one location,” he said. “This supports not only the refuelling exercise, but also allows us to establish high-quality after sales operations in all locations that our customers will be using hydrogen.

“Hydrogen ecosystems require a minimum volume to hit the market – our products focus on this market.”

H2X is also developing multiple light vehicles using the H2X powertrain system – a common chassis using sophisticated localised and renewable biocomposite materials.

The company has developed a modular power concept that enables the fitting of H2X power systems to existing and new heavy equipment, allowing for faster development of the hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen fuel cells in the spotlight

Hydrogen fuel cells have become a more mainstream focus for those in the industry, given the technology advancements that have enabled fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to refuel more quickly and travel longer distances.

Market researcher Research and Markets predicts the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market will grow from around $US16bn in 2020 to nearly $US27bn by the end of 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 11.23%.

Hydrogen technology is attracting significant investment from not only those developing the tech but retail and institutional investors as well.

Case in point is the recent strong investor support Pilot Energy (ASX:PGY) received for its capital raising, which attracted firm commitments from sophisticated, institutional and professional investors totalling $8m.

Pilot recently announced its expansion into the hydrogen and renewables space.

Decades of automotive experience

The team behind H2X has decades of experience in vehicle development, starting with CEO Brendan Norman who has spent nearly 30 years in top management with major car makers predominantly BMW and Audi/Volkswagen.

During his time at Volkswagen Group, including leading Asia Pacific regional strategy saw the growth of the Group in the region grow into 4-digit percentage territory over a 10-year period.

H2X head of design vice president Chris Reitz has 27 years of design experience, including as head of design for, Fiat and Nissan Europe and significant roles with Audi/Volkswagen.

“Our approach on the vehicles is a complete redesign of the concept of how we build it,” Reitz said.

“The production of vehicles can be optimised significantly with clean energy powertrains because of the shape and integration of the powertrains.

“We have exciting developments for efficiency, performance and to a very large extent in terms of use of renewable materials and clean manufacturing process.”

H2X’s Fuel Cell Team has more than 20 years’ experience, several different models of passenger cars, trucks and buses developed for other manufacturers, of which thousands of units have been delivered.

The company’s chief technology officer, Ian Thompson, also has an impressive CV that details a long career working on projects for big names like Tesla, Bentley, Aston Martin, Volvo and Maserati.

“One of our city focused vehicles will have a different hybrid battery solution to a city vehicle, where we are working with more dynamic technologies to maximise retention of Kinetic Energy, which is our focus,” Norman said.

Source: This article has originally published on Stockhead.