Forvia-Michelin-Stellantis JV inaugurates its first gigafactory

Symbio, an equally owned joint venture between Forvia, Michelin and Stellantis, inaugurated SymphonHy on December 5, its first gigafactory, a centre of technological and industrial excellence.

Located in Saint-Fons, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, SymphonHy is the largest integrated fuel cell production site in Europe.

The site houses the Group’s headquarters, a production plant, an innovation hub, and the Symbio Hydrogen Academy. With its state-of-the-art technology, SymphonHy has a high level of automation and robotics supporting large-scale industrial production at a more competitive cost. These developments are key to accelerate the roll-out of competitive, high-performance hydrogen-powered transport, and contribute to the energy transition and the ambitions of Europe to move towards net zero.

SymphonHy in figures:
- A current production capacity of 16,000, to reach 50,000 by 2026
- An existing surface area of 26,000 square metres, 40,000 square metres by 2026
- 7,000 square metres of space dedicated to innovation

- 8,000 square metres of ISO 8-certified cleanrooms
- More than 450 engineers, including 100 dedicated to innovation and around 20 PhDs covering a wide range of disciplines (electrochemical engineering, chemistry, materials science, etc.), brought together in a single world-class innovation centre.

Making zero-emission hydrogen mobility an affordable reality

With more than 30 years of experience, leaders in the automotive world, and with six million kilometres of road-testing already on the clock, Symbio has developed unique expertise. The Group offers a broad portfolio of solutions that meet all power, durability and autonomy requirements for an efficient zero-emission mobility, from on-road light and mid-range commercial vehicles, trucks, pickups, buses and coaches, to off-road lifting and mechanical handling equipment.

With SymphonHy, Symbio is able to support its customers, pioneers of hydrogen-powered transport, in their deployment plans, which are already showing promise now, in the real world.

Stellantis, which is a Symbio co-shareholder, was the first company to market a zero-emission hydrogen solution for light commercial vehicles for the Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën e-Jumpy and Opel Vivaro-e models. The company is expanding its range to include large vans with a mid-power architecture, a range of up to 500km and a recharge time of less than 10 minutes. Stellantis has confirmed its plans to develop a hydrogen technology for its Ram brand pickups, in line with its aim of electrifying its portfolio of vehicles with a range of 320 miles ALVW or 200 miles GCWR and fast tank refilling, without compromising on payload capacity. All these vehicles will be equipped with fuel cells produced by Symbio.