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Stellantis Pulls Plug on Hydrogen Van Plans

No Mid-Term Future for Hydrogen Tech as Stellantis Doubles Down on EVs and Hybrids

In a major shift for its future product strategy, Stellantis has officially announced it’s discontinuing its hydrogen fuel cell development program. The move puts an end to the company’s plans to launch hydrogen-powered Pro One commercial vans in Europe, which were slated to enter series production this summer at plants in Hordain, France, and Gliwice, Poland.

The company says that hydrogen simply doesn’t make sense in the short to mid-term, due to a mix of issues: not enough hydrogen refueling stations, high production and development costs, and a lack of buyer incentives. As a result, Stellantis doesn’t expect hydrogen-powered light-duty vehicles to gain meaningful traction before 2030—if ever.

Stellantis Hydrogen Full-Size Van Lineup. (Stellantis Pro One).

Jean-Philippe Imparato, Chief Operating Officer for Enlarged Europe at Stellantis, put it bluntly:

“The hydrogen market remains a niche segment, with no prospects of mid-term economic sustainability. We must make clear and responsible choices to ensure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our customers with our electric and hybrid passenger and light commercial vehicles offensive.”

Stellantis Hydrogen Midsize Van Lineup. (Stellantis Pro One).

Translation: hydrogen’s just not worth the investment right now—especially when the company is already pouring resources into battery electric and hybrid technologies to meet strict CO₂ targets across the European market.

The Pro One hydrogen vans were announced just last year, including both medium and large van variants. Stellantis was planning to produce them for fleet customers looking for zero-emission options without the long charging times of traditional EVs. But with infrastructure lagging and no sign of improvement, the automaker is shifting gears.

Production of the Hydrogen/Electric “K-Zero” vans in Hordain, France. (Stellantis Pro One).

This decision won’t lead to layoffs. Employees at both production sites will continue working on other Stellantis products, and the hydrogen R&D teams will be reassigned to different development efforts across the company.

Also now in question is Stellantis’ stake in French fuel cell firm Symbio, which it co-owns with Michelin and Forvia. Stellantis has begun talks with the other shareholders to reassess the venture’s future amid what it called “current market consequences.” Just last week, Symbio’s longtime CEO Philippe Rosier stepped down, hinting that the company may have jumped into the hydrogen space too early.

SymphonHy Hydrogen Fuel Cell Gigafactory in Saint-Fons, France. (SYMBIO).

With other OEMs exiting the hydrogen mobility game—especially in the heavy-duty truck sector—it seems Stellantis is making a hard pivot to stick with what it sees as the winning formula: PHEVs and BEVs.

Whether hydrogen makes a comeback later in the decade remains to be seen. Still, for now, Stellantis is closing the chapter on fuel cell development and betting fully on electrification, which is more feasible today.

Robert S. Miller

Robert S. Miller is a diehard Mopar enthusiast who lives and breathes all that is Mopar. The Michigander is not only the Editor for MoparInsiders.com, 5thGenRams.com, and HDRams.com but an automotive photographer. He is an avid fan of offshore powerboat racing, which he travels the country to take part in.

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Hydrogen fuel isn't the most economical fuel because it takes more energy to produce than the energy we get out of it. Hydrogen fuel cells worked well in Iceland because that country has such abundant thermal energy to generate heat and electricity from.

The narrative has steadily been about saving the planet by using battery electric power with rare earth minerals supplied by China. Our country should have been researching thermal energy in Hawaii where there is abundant thermal energy also available. Instead all of financial resources seem to have gone to California where the conclusion seems to have been internal combustion is bad and only battery electric can save us.

America has a lot of natural gas, and there is already a refueling network in place for heavy duty trucks found in many locations across America. So why haven't we seen automotive fuel cells using natural gas instead of hydrogen?

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Once again the green dreamers contingent, with their heads in the clouds, ignore reality and with a swipe of their magic wand, engage in an effort that is impractical and costly. More money down a rabbit hole that could have been used to design and build a next generation fire breathing Hemi V-8. Alice in Wonderland thinking and magic wand policy making once again makes fools out of corporate decision makers and billions go down the drain. Pulling the plug on something anyone with a clue could have told you was a pipe dream was the right move. Time for what is feasible and not what some fairy dust congers up.

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Once again the green dreamers contingent, with their heads in the clouds, ignore reality and with a swipe of their magic wand, engage in an effort that is impractical and costly. More money down a rabbit hole that could have been used to design and build a next generation fire breathing Hemi V-8. Alice in Wonderland thinking and magic wand policy making once again makes fools out of corporate decision makers and billions go down the drain. Pulling the plug on something anyone with a clue could have told you was a pipe dream was the right move. Time for what is feasible and not what some fairy dust congers up.

The idea of using a fuel cell as a range extender was and is with pursuing. Using hydrogen fuel in the fuel cell isn't practical for most situations. I'm not a chemist, but while hydrogen as a fuel is highly impractical due to its low density and containment, adding one carbon molecule to Hydrogen solves many of the issues. Nature has already done that for us with natural gas.

Speaking of money down the rabbit hole, how about another examination of the Archer Aviation hookup. Stellantis has poured close to a half Billion into that.

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Balancing it all out with hybrids wouldn't be the worst idea

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The idea of using a fuel cell as a range extender was and is with pursuing. Using hydrogen fuel in the fuel cell isn't practical for most situations. I'm not a chemist, but while hydrogen as a fuel is highly impractical due to its low density and containment, adding one carbon molecule to Hydrogen solves many of the issues. Nature has already done that for us with natural gas.

Speaking of money down the rabbit hole, how about another examination of the Archer Aviation hookup. Stellantis has poured close to a half Billion into that.

It’s not the fuel and it’s not the engineering technology created, it’s the practicality, lack of infrastructure and the overwhelmingly convenient and availability of gas powered vehicle most folks want. Indeed Archer Air would go on my “Alice in Wonderland” list of elites dreams gone amuck. Dodge Daytona comes to mind too. It’s the arrogant decision makers that causes the regular folks to gag.

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