Forvia, the group formed by the merger of Faurecia and Hella is investing more than ever in hydrogen. The inauguration of the Allenjoie site (Eastern France) was an opportunity for CEO Patrick Koller to set out his vision in this area.

Since 2018, the Group has invested more than €400 million (about $424 million) in hydrogen technology through R&D, production and partnerships. An intriguing figure indeed. Forvia is diversifying in two ways: through fuel tanks, of course, but also in fuel cells as a shareholder in Symbio (alongside Michelin and Stellantis). Forvia claims to own 75% of the value of a hydrogen vehicle’s propulsion system. And it expect reaching sales of €3.5 billion (around $3.7 billion) by 2030.

A site that supplies French carmakers

Located in the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region, Forvia has set up a world-class centre of expertise in hydrogen storage at its research centre in Bavans (eastern France), starting in 2019. And it is in Allenjoie (about 20 km away) that it has chosen to mass-produce hydrogen tanks. The site, which was inaugurated on October 9, already produces for Stellantis (Opel Vivaro-e, Citroën e-Jumpy, Peugeot e-Expert) and Hyvia (Renault Master Van H2-TECH). Besides tanks for commercial vehicles, the equipment manufacturer is developing XL-Tank composite tanks for trucks, which can hold up to 25 kg of hydrogen. Both are 700-bar Type IV tanks.

And because hydrogen storage is not limited to vehicles, Forvia has also developed a container solution for transporting hydrogen to supply stations (as in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, for example).

Do you want to learn more about Forvia regarding hydrogen? Then our latest 2 articles on the group should interest you. You can read them here and there. 

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King