Bosch partners with Nikola Motors in £2.1bn hydrogen deal
Bosch has unveiled a major new push towards hydrogen technology, unveiling an investment of €2.5 billion (£2.1bn) and a partnership with US electric truck firm Nikola.
The technology giant is aiming to generate €5 billion (£4.2bn) in sales of hydrogen technology by 2030, with today marking the start of production of fuel-cell modules – which powers hydrogen vehicles.
Bosch told City PM this investment would create some jobs in the UK, for associates developing sales channels for Bosch’s new hydrogen tech and products.
US-based Nikola Corporation will serve as the pilots first customer, using the technology for its future hydrogen-electric truck fleet, which is scheduled to launch in North America at the end of 2023.
“Here in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, in the plant whose history goes back further than any other Bosch plant, the hydrogen future is about to happen,” Dr. Stefan Hartung, Bosch’s CEO, declared at its Tech Day conference. “Bosch knows its way around hydrogen, and Bosch is growing with hydrogen.”
The debate over hydrogen’s role in the automotive sector’s net-zero transition has revved up over the past year.
In the UK, BMW recently called for the country to back hydrogen technology or risk losing out on in the global green race.
Supporters argue that, along with producing no carbon emissions, hydrogen cars can be filled up quicker – as opposed to the long charging times of electric vehicles (EVs).
Similarly, the fuel better serves heavy trucks and lorries who struggle with the added weight of electric batteries, amid concerns it could eat into the sectors’ margins.
Bosch said today that anticipates one in five new trucks weighing above six tons to feature Worldwide, the company expects that by 2030, one in five new trucks weighing six tons or more will feature the technology.
“Only with hydrogen can there be a climate-neutral world…. the company therefore strongly advocates the establishment of a hydrogen economy, and is stepping up its investments in hydrogen,” it said.
Production of Bosch’s fuel-cell power module will begin at its Feuerbach plant on the outskirts of Stuttgart and in Chongqing in China.
Bosch’s chief today called on German and European policymakers to “step up the pace of hydrogen production in the European Union (EU),” and use the tech in “all sectors of the economy.”