“There’s no market for hydrogen vehicles”. Renault CEO Luca de Meo mourns the HYVIA project
HYVIA entered into legal recovery procedure in December 2024. "The too slow evolution of hydrogen mobility ecosystems in Europe and the very significant development costs required for H2 innovation led to this decision", stated HYVIA in an official press note at that time.
“Currently, there’s no market for hydrogen vehicles. So, speaking of HYVIA, the situation is very difficult”. These were the words spoken by Renault CEO, Luca de Meo, during a French parliamentary committee, and quoted by Hydrogen Insight. Quite a significant statement, thus clearing the future of the joint venture HYVIA, founded by Renault along with U.S.-based fuel cell maker Plug Power.
About HYVIA (here’s an interview with the company’s former CEO at Solutrans 2021), the player entered into legal recovery procedure in December 2024. “The too slow evolution of hydrogen mobility ecosystems in Europe and the very significant development costs required for H2 innovation led to this decision”, stated HYVIA in an official press note at that time.
HYVIA and the hydrogen bet
Right now, HYVIA managers are looking for possible new investors, even though it’s quite hard to believe that someone is interested in a very challenging technology like hydrogen in the commercial vehicle sector.
As a background, HYVIA has already approved two versions of hydrogen vans, in April 2023 and June 2024, and initiated the development of a third-generation version. The vehicle is a fuel cell hydrogen van based on a Renault Master van. Also, in March 2022, HYVIA inaugurated a fuel cell assembly and testing plant in Flins, France, and deployed a 1 MW electrolyzer.
