Fuel cell pioneer H2X is raising funds ahead of 2022 IPO

Fresh off debuting its first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for pre-orders, hydrogen pioneer H2X Global is now seeking millions in pre-initial public offering funding.

The company’s Warrego Ute, which combines its unique light duty optimised hydrogen with the chassis of the popular Ford Ranger, has already generated over $50m in pre-order interest.

It has now appointed Barclay Pearce Capital, which was behind the successful pre-IPO raisings for Verdant Earth Technologies and green hydrogen pioneer Infinite Blue Energy, as the lead manager for its multi-million dollar pre-IPO raising.

This comes ahead of its planned IPO and as governments around the world commit billions of dollars in incentives to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and meet their net zero emissions targets.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have gained significant interest in this environment, offering the potential to provide zero emissions transportation while enjoying quick refuelling, traits that are valuable for commercial vehicles that cannot be off the road for long periods.

H2X noted that recent market research indicates that the global fuel cell market could grow to more than US$14.6 billion by 2027.

H2X fuel cell tech

H2X is keen to capitalise on this interest in fuel cells with its Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid technology, which is designed to drastically reduce refuelling time and increase driving range and hydrogen efficiency.

Its modular platform allows the hybrid energy system and fuel cell to be customised to maximise the efficiency and performance according to the user.

“One of our city focused vehicles will have a different hybrid battery solution to a vehicle, where we are working with more dynamic technologies to maximise retention of kinetic energy, which is our speciality to improve efficiency of the vehicles,” chief executive officer Brendan Norman said.

“H2X works with hydrogen infrastructure providers and forward-thinking industries to establish ecosystems which are cost effective from the start, where we look to offer multiple applications of vehicles to make it easy to reach a critical mass in one location.

“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.”

The company is currently developing multiple light vehicles using its powertrain system, which will involve a common chassis using sophisticated localised and renewable biocomposite materials and a modular power concept that enables the fitting of H2X power systems to existing and new heavy equipment.

“Our approach on the vehicles is a complete redesign of the concept of how we build it. The production of vehicles can be optimised significantly with clean energy powertrains because of the shape and integration of the powertrains,” head of design vice president Chris Reitz said.

This diverse range of products using a common platform allows H2X to quickly support financially sound business cases for hydrogen rather than battery-electric for commercial vehicles.

This article originally appeared in the Stockhead.