News that Vauxhall is cancelling the launch of its new hydrogen panel van is a “major blow” for fleet adoption of the fuel in the UK, says FleetCheck.
Peter Golding, CEO at the fleet software specialist, said the model would have provided the best available chance for operators to assess the viability of hydrogen in real world conditions.
“We have been arguing for some time that hydrogen has a potentially important part to play in the future of zero emissions vehicles, especially in the light commercial sector where electrification is proving difficult for many businesses.
“The Vauxhall van promised a very real opportunity for that to happen and the news their parent company Stellantis has decided to halt all production plans until at least the end of the decade is a major blow. We believed the UK launch was imminent.”
He said the reasons cited by Stellantis – poor availability of refuelling facilities, the high investment required and insufficient incentives to purchase – were all understandable, but this remained a disappointing moment.
“We talk to operators every day who would like to electrify their van fleet but are hitting issues with range, payload and charging times. The promise of hydrogen is that it offers zero emissions without any of these compromises, and the Vauxhall proposition was the opportunity to try this in the form of a familiar vehicle from a major manufacturer.
“Yes, significant hurdles would’ve remained, the biggest of which was the almost complete absence of a refuelling infrastructure. However, with no van, there is no way forward.”
Peter pointed out the Stellantis decision followed a recent announcement from BMW that its new hydrogen car would not be coming to the UK because of the lack of fuelling facilities.
“In making that announcement, BMW called on the UK government to match the EU’s ambition for a hydrogen filling station every 120 kilometres but that level of commitment hasn’t stopped Stellantis cancelling their van across the whole Europe. That’s a sad fact you can’t help but feel could weight on future political thinking about hydrogen.
“While some truck and bus options remain, it feels as though in car and van terms, the hydrogen project is in decline and even effectively dormant for the foreseeable future.”
