HYVIA, H speed hydrogen

Last January, Renault Group CEO, Luca de Meo, revealed the Group’s Renaulution strategy and announced a considerable push into market of hydrogen solutions. HYVIA, a 50/50 company between Renault Group and Plug Power, was launched in June as a response to the urgency of the situation. The company’s guiding principle is to act fast as the energy transition can no longer wait.

With tightening environmental regulations and general consensus heading in the same direction, HYVIA knows that it must act fast in order to provide an organised response that meets customer expectations by breaking through the current constraints of hydrogen. The young brand has embarked on an adventure that brings together skilled and enthusiastic people.

David Holderbach and his team embody agile management and the start-up mindset: make speedy decisions, streamline processes, and seek out and utilise skill sets wherever they may be. HYVIA, is a family of 50 employees with plenty of motivation to share around, excited to tackle the challenges of hydrogen-powered green mobility. A group of people driven by their shared desire to have a positive impact on the energy transition. Low-carbon transport: that is their north star, a goal they all embrace. In the eyes of David Holderbach, this is the sort of enthusiasm that is essential if the company is to reach its ambitious goal of achieving 30% market share in the hydrogen Light Commercial vehicle market by 2030.

In less than 200 days, HYVIA has already marked some major milestones. Three hydrogen vehicle prototypes have been launched since its inception: Renault Master Van H2-TECH, Renault Master Chassis Cab H2-TECH, and Renault Master Citybus H2-TECH. HYVIA has also included a refuelling station solution because the company sees little point in selling vehicles without also a comprehensive solution for hydrogen refuelling and recharging. A feat that builds on the combined expertise of Renault Group and Plug Power. Nicolas Benech, Director of Engineering, talks us through the journey and the reasons behind their motivation:

For fleets operators and local governments that use vehicles intensively, the current range of hydrogen solutions is lacking. The solutions on offer are poorly adapted. To meet the growing demand that is gaining in urgency, HYVIA has developed a unique ecosystem based in France. To speed up the process, the company has chosen to alter Master E-TECH Electric models made in Batilly (north-eastern France) and assemble fuel cells and refuelling stations at the Flins Re-Factory on the outskirts of Paris.

As David Holderbach points out,

We are in contact with fleet operators and local governments, 'early adopters' who wish to go hydrogen. We want to offer them turnkey hydrogen solutions: in other words, hydrogen vehicles and green hydrogen fast-refuelling stations.