Electrification is the main focus of today’s Automotive Industry Day in Paris. But Renault is not giving in to the temptation of a single solution and hydrogen is one of the alternatives chosen by the group.

When asked about the future bonus which will exclude electric vehicles produced in China, and which will therefore a priori exclude the Dacia Spring, the Chairman of Renault, Jean-Dominique Sénard, swept the question aside. He explained that the group was preparing some important things, such as the production of components at Flins for hydrogen-powered vehicles. He was then asked about his vision of the future of mobility. For which he mentioned e-fuels, the role of engines (grouped together under the Horse entity with Geely), and… hydrogen.

Mr Sénard recalled that, when he was still head of Michelin, he had encouraged research into fuel cells. And he was delighted to see that the group was a co-shareholder (with Forvia and Stellantis) in Symbio. He then went on to talk about the creation of Hyvia, the subsidiary set up with Plugpower (“world leader in fuel cells and green hydrogen”). The Chairman of Renault believes that hydrogen has its place -especially for utility vehicles- and that by 2030, a significant proportion of these will run on hydrogen.

Mr Sénard also mentioned hydrogen as a fuel, without going into further detail. Even though we know that Alpine is working on a hydrogen combustion engine. In his opinion, the fact that we are moving towards electrification does not mean that we have to give up on all other assets.

Do you want to learn more about Renault, hydrogen and its alternatives? Then our latest 2 articles on the subject should interest you. You can read them here and there. 

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King