New Aussie car company planning full range of FCEVs

Ambitious Australian start-up car-maker H2X aims to exploit hydrogen and other green fuels to revive local car manufacturing.

Launched publicly this morning, H2X plans to develop and produce a range of vehicles including passenger cars and SUVs, prime-movers, buses and even tractors by 2024.

Among them is the Snowy SUV (pictured), which could be on sale as soon as 2023. Before then a prime-mover and bus are expected to be the first H2X vehicles with a forecast production start as soon as July 2021.

The H2X line-up will be powered by a hybrid powertrain leveraging kinetic energy through battery and ultra-capacitor technology with strong focus on hydrogen. In its media release issued today, H2X says the system can vary between power sources depending on the journey.

The CEO of H2X Brendan Norman, an Australian former BMW and Volkswagen executive, said the company was “focussed on reaching market leading volumes by 2025”.

What that means in terms of numbers was not defined in the press material. H2X also has export plans, but they were not revealed beyond the press release stating the company’s confidence that it would be in “a world leading position in the hydrogen energy field by 2024 when a full product line-up is realised”. Only modest ambitions then…

Laudably, it also aims to employ 5000 people directly by 2025 and generate four to five times that number of jobs alongside an “Australian oriented” supply chain.

The first H2X vehicles will be based on an imported chassis from a third party paired with a powertrain already in use in Asia. They will be mated with locally manufactured bodies and interior parts. The goal is 80 per cent localisation by 2025.

Chief design officer Chris Reitz gave a hint of the flavour H2X would try to achieve with its vehicles.

“We have a unique character in our vehicles and we are using Australia’s strong resource, educational and innovation strengths to come up with products which are developed to excel in extreme conditions, and like many things Australian they will win themselves into the hearts and minds of many around the world,” he said.

H2X’s initial base will be Port Kembla near Wollongong on the NSW south coast, which is a deep-water port and also the location of a green hydrogen project.

“Today we launch our company which not only demonstrates the advanced technology and engineering capabilities of Australia in the clean energy arena but also provides a real clean alternative in terms of transportation,” said Norman.

“With the development of many Green Energy projects in Australia at the moment we have a unique opportunity to bring a significant manufacturing operation back into the country.”

Australia has an abundance of the natural resources required to make clean hydrogen and a National Hydrogen Strategy has been drawn up to make us a major global player in the industry by 2030.

Of course, there is no publicly available hydrogen refuelling network in Australia at the moment, which makes selling a vehicle using hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles more of a challenge. That helps explain why H2X’s initial focus will be on fleet vehicles that can access “renewable energy hubs”.

But H2X seems intent on helping overcome hydrogen supply issues. Its release referred to projects the company was already involved with for rail, marine, stationery power and heavy vehicles that will soon come to market.

“This will give significant support to the hydrogen production industry,” the release stated.

Key backing for H2X in its start-up phase is coming from former motor racing driver Ken Mathews’ renewable energy company Denzo PL and Elvin Group Renewables, best known for environmentally progressive concrete production.

Joining Norman in H2X’s senior management are some highly experienced automotive industry veterans.

Apart from Reitz, who has worked for Audi, VW, Nissan and Fiat, there is powertrain chief Peter Zienau, formerly of General Motors and chief technical officer Ian Thompson, whose background includes Lotus and Aston Martin. Chief of corporate strategy is former Toyota employee Alan Marder.

Most of the management group worked together on the Chinese start-up Grove Automotive, which launched three vehicles at the Shanghai show in 2019.

Joining Mathews on the board is Elvin Group MD Samuel Blackadder and Australian auto industry veteran Kevin McCann.