Stellantis’ future is not only about electric cars or EVs, but also looking for alternative renewable fuels, one of which is hydrogen. To smooth this out, Stellantis partnered with Symbio, a company that specializes in hydrogen-powered mobility.
From this partnership, Stellantis will join existing shareholders Faurecia and Michelin.
“Symbio’s technical roadmap fits perfectly with Stellantis’ hydrogen rollout plans in Europe and in the US,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “This move will accelerate development to bring low emission products to our customers, going beyond traditional electric vehicles.”
Stellantis has shown a desire to introduce fully electric and hybridized vehicles – the Jeep Wrangler 4xe is proof of that. Like Toyota, Stellantis doesn’t believe that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are the only solution on the planet for cleaner mobility.
If all goes well with regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, meaning it will be a long time before Symbio’s influence is felt in vehicles available to the public.
However, it is heartening to see more and more auto giants considering other clean alternatives to BEVs. Toyota, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen and others are already developing hydrogen-powered vehicles and have been working on the project for some time.
With yet another big name entering the fuel cell space, perhaps there is hope that we won’t all have to drive similar EVs in the next few decades.
