Faurecia revealed that the company will equip a Bavarian fleet (Bayernflotte) of heavy-duty trucks provided by MAN with complete hydrogen storage systems, as part of a state-supported fuel cell research project.

For this project, backed with about €7 MM funding from Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Faurecia, part of Group FORVIA, will develop and seek certification for a new size of tank perfectly adapted to meet the requirements of heavy-duty vehicles and other applications with intensive use cases. This type of extra-large system can store an increased amount of hydrogen, delivering a higher autonomy. This hydrogen storage system prototype will be developed in the R&D center of Augsburg, Germany.

Starting mid-2024, five selected end users will test these hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks in real-life operations for one year, operating in the Bavarian region between Nuremberg and Munich.

Bavaria offers a favorable hydrogen ecosystem and strong support of the Bavarian government, which has set major objectives to decarbonate industry and mobility. The Bavarian state is heavily promoting research, development, and applications in the field of hydrogen technology, and heavy-duty mobility is an important milestone in Bavaria’s hydrogen strategy.

"With hydrogen storage systems, we are proud to provide solutions for the energy transition," said Yves Andres Fonction, FORVIA Clean Mobility Executive Vice-President. "This project is an additional step for our hydrogen development in Germany, with strong technology and public partnerships in commercial vehicles applications. We appreciate this support and are proud to be part of this German and Bavarian ecosystem."