Many people have considered hydrogen nothing more than a pipe dream from the very beginning. However, some automakers have insisted (and a few still do) that there is a future for electric vehicles with fuel cells instead of bulky batteries. Stellantis was determined to pursue hydrogen in the commercial vehicle segment, but pouring money into this technology has now come to an abrupt end.
Stellantis recognized that it needed to invest a significant amount of money to make hydrogen feasible. Even if it hadn’t abandoned the effort, customers would still have faced a severely underdeveloped refueling infrastructure worldwide. The automotive conglomerate also believes governments should’ve put more effort into incentivizing this segment to drive down prices for consumers.
2025 Opel Vivaro Hydrogen
Photo by: Opel
When all is said and done, “the hydrogen market remains a niche segment,” and there are “no prospects of mid-term economic sustainability.” Not only is Stellantis ending its hydrogen development program, but it’s also abandoning plans to launch hydrogen-powered workhorses this year. New models from the Pro One commercial division were supposed to enter production this summer, but that’s no longer happening.
The plan was to build midsize vans in Hordain, France, and large vans in Gliwice, Poland. The silver lining is that Stellantis pledges not to reduce the workforce at the plants that were supposed to manufacture the hydrogen commercial vehicles. Additionally, the research and development team will pursue other projects unrelated to fuel cells.
In early 2024, when Stellantis was still betting on hydrogen, it said it would have eight fuel cell midsize and large hydrogen vans: Citroën ë-Jumpy and ë-Jumper, Fiat Professional E-Scudo and E-Ducato, Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro and Movano, and Peugeot E-Expert and E-Boxer.
While Stellantis is calling it quits, Toyota remains committed to hydrogen for the long haul. Aside from improving fuel cells with an upcoming third generation, it’s also experimenting with combustion engines that run on hydrogen. The world’s largest automaker is helping BMW bring its first series-production hydrogen car to market in 2028, potentially an SUV based on the next-generation X5.
Photo by: Hyundai
Hyundai is not giving up on hydrogen either. It recently launched the new Nexo crossover and sees a future for fuel cell trucks such as the Xcient.
Honda has a next-generation fuel cell module that it will mass-produce from 2027, featuring 50% lower production costs and more than double the durability of its predecessor. The Japanese automaker also has a joint venture with General Motors, called Fuel Cell Systems Manufacturing LLC. The 70,000-square-foot FCSM facility, located in Brownstown, Michigan, manufactures fuel cells that are sold to either Honda or GM’s Hydrotec division.
What about Volkswagen? Ex-CEO Thomas Schafer declared at the 2023 CES that the technology is not feasible for passenger cars, at least not in the foreseeable future: “It’s not competitive, especially not for passenger cars, the tanks take up space in the cabin. Maybe for commercial vehicles, but not in the passenger car. So, I don’t see this happening in this decade. Not at Volkswagen.”
Even Renault’s niche brand Alpine believes hydrogen has a place in the sports car world by taunting us with a supercar powered by a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter V-6 fueled by hydrogen. Renault itself cooked up a rear-wheel-drive Emblème wagon concept with a fuel cell and a rechargeable battery.
However, regardless of how much fuel cell technology advances, without a suitable refueling infrastructure, these efforts will be in vain.