Renault and Plug Power joint venture Hyvia launches today
Hyvia will provide hydrogen mobility solutions covering light commercial fuel cells vehicles, hydrogen charging stations, carbon-free hydrogen and fleets management.
Renault Group (a global automaker) and Plug Power Inc. ( leading hydrogen and fuel cell solutions provider) today (3rd June) to launch their joint venture Hyvia, as agreed per their agreement signed in January 2021.
The joint venture is equally owned by both partners and is lead by David Holderbach, who has two decades of experience at the Renault Group.
Hyvia is the abbreviation of ‘HY’, which is the contraction of hydrogen, while ‘Via’ originates from Latin, referring to ‘road’. So, Hyvia reflects the ambition to open a new path towards low-carbon mobility.
Hyvia will operate from Renault facilities in four sites in France. Its headquarter and the R&D teams will be located at Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, with the light commercial vehicle engineering and development centre for Renault Group. The joint venture process, manufacturing and logistics teams will be based in Flins. It plans to begin the assembly of fuel cells and recharging stations later this year. The first vehicles will be based on Renault Master and will be assembled at the Batilly plant, where PVI will carry out the fuel cell integration in Gretz-Armainvilliers.
The Hyvia integrated hydrogen technology complements Renault’s E-Tech technology, increasing the vehicle range to 500 km with a rapid recharging time of 3 minutes.
Hyvia will use its Renault Master platform for the first three fuel cell vehicles: a van version for goods, the Chassis cab version for goods, and a city bus version. These will likely be available in Europe by the end of 2021.
Luca de Meo, CEO Renault Group, said, “This joint venture integrates the entire hydrogen mobility ecosystem in a unique way, from the vehicle to infrastructure and turnkey services for customers.”
He further added, “The development of this cutting-edge technology will enable us to strengthen our industrial base and set up new value-generating activities in France in this promising segment.”
Andrew Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, said, “Plug Power is a technological leader in green hydrogen solutions by electrolysis. With Hyvia, we are bringing hydrogen mobility to France and Europe.”
David Holderbach, CEO of Hyvia, said, “Hyvia is now opening a new path towards decarbonation with a complete offering of hydrogen solutions.”
