Last Thursday in Paris, as the Hyvolution show was drawing to a close, a Franco-German debate explored alternatives to electric vehicles in the automotive sector in anticipation of 2035. Naturally, hydrogen featured as one of the key topics.
Organised by the Franco-German Economic Club and the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the debate could not have been more timely, coinciding with the launch of a strategic dialogue between the European Commission and the automotive industry that very morning. At the conference, speakers included Pascal Canfin, Member of the European Parliament; Marc Mortureux, Managing Director of the PFA – Automotive Platform; Dr Frank Niederländer, Vice President of European Affairs at BMW Group; Laurent Favre, Managing Director of OPmobility; and François Roudier, Secretary General of the International Organisation of Automobile Manufacturers (OICA), each presenting their arguments.
The evening’s focus was the 2035 deadline for internal combustion engines, and a clear consensus emerged: Europe is erring by relying exclusively on battery technology. The OICA representative pointed out that outside Europe, manufacturers are pursuing several technologies simultaneously, from ethanol to hydrogen.
Thus, discussions also covered e-fuels (a solution that, according to BMW, could enable the conversion of the existing fleet), hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen. The session was introduced by Valérie Bouillon-Delporte, Executive Director of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, who provided an overview of hydrogen mobility—including its use in light commercial vehicles, buses, and trucks—while emphasising that hydrogen has many other applications.
Lack of support from public authorities
During the debate, the PFA criticised the lack of support from public authorities, arguing that while policymakers encourage industry players to get started, they do little to assist them in the realm of mobility. Meanwhile, BMW and OPmobility reiterated their commitment to this approach.
Laurent Favre subsequently published a post on LinkedIn reaffirming the need for a technology-neutral approach, in which he highlighted “the immense potential for hydrogen in heavy mobility.”
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