Volvo Group and Daimler Truck plan JV for fuel cell systems

The Volvo Group and Daimler Truck AG have signed a binding agreement for a joint venture to develop, produce and commercialise fuel-cell systems for use in heavy-duty trucks as the primary focus, as well as other applications.

The two companies aim to make the new company a leading global manufacturer of fuel cells. The Volvo Group will acquire 50 percent of the partnership interests in Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG for approximately 0.6 billion euros on a cash and debt-free basis. Closing of the transaction is expected during the first half of 2021.

“For us at Daimler Truck AG and our intended partner, the Volvo Group, the hydrogen-based fuel-cell is a key technology for enabling CO2-neutral transportation in the future. We are both fully committed to the Paris Climate Agreement for decarbonising road transport and other areas, and to building a prosperous jointly held company that will deliver large volumes of fuel-cell systems,” said Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.

The joint venture will take advantage of the expertise and extensive experience from several decades of development work on fuel cells at Daimler.

“In the future, the world will be powered by a combination of battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles, along with other renewable fuels to some extent. The formation of our fuel-cell joint venture is an important step in shaping a world we want to live in,” said Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of the Volvo Group.

Together, the Volvo Group and Daimler Truck AG have tremendous and longstanding experience in technology development, industrialisation and large-scale vehicle production. The future joint venture will be able to benefit from this from the start, which is a unique position for a start-up company. Deep and proven knowledge of modularity, efficiency and reliability will be in place from the get-go, as well as world-leading processes in areas such as quality, production technology and industrialization.

In addition to trucks, there are also other areas of application for this type of fuel-cell system. The joint venture will develop a system with several power stages, including a twin system with 300 kW continuous power for heavy-duty long-haul trucks. Based on the demanding conditions in heavy-duty truck applications, the joint venture’s products are also ideally suited for other use cases such as stationary power generation.