Daimler/Volvo joint venture reaches major milestone with launch of Daimler Truck Fuel Cell subsidiary

Daimler Truck has launched Daimler Truck Fuel Cell, marking a major milestone in its joint venture plans with Volvo Group to develop hydrogen fuel cells for commercial vehicles.

The creation of the fuel cell company follows the announcement in April of Daimler and Volvo’s joint venture to develop, produce and commercialise hydrogen fuel cell systems for HGVs and buses.

This latest move by the joint venture ramps up the race to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered truck.

In September Iveco invested $250m (£200m) in a joint venture with US fuel cell truck manufacturer Nikola to produce Nikola TRE battery electric and fuel-cell electric heavy-duty truck models. These will be made at Iveco’s manufacturing facility in Ulm, Germany.

Daimler Truck Fuel Cell, led by joint MDs Andreas Gorbach, pictured left, and Christian Mohrdieck, right, will be at the centre of the joint venture, said Martin Daum, chairman of Daimler Trucks.

“Our new subsidiary is to be the immediate predecessor organisation of the joint venture," Daum said. “In it, we will now bring together the great expertise and enormous wealth of experience from several decades of development work on fuel cells at Daimler – and combine it with the right know-how in connection with trucks.”

He added: “The fuel cell is a crucial CO2-neutral solution for trucks in heavy long-distance transport.  We and our future joint venture partner, Volvo Group, are convinced of this.

“We are determined to jointly tackle the development and series production of fuel cells and are now taking major steps with all the necessary preparations for the planned joint venture."

The joint MDs have extensive experience in the fuel cell sector, Daum said, adding: “The two of them are characterised both by profound expertise in the field of conventional and alternative drive systems and fuel cells, and by the right pioneering spirit to successfully build up the new entity and transfer it to the planned joint venture.”

The JV, which is subject to regulatory approval, plans to have its first two trucks on the road by 2024/25, ahead of mass production by the mid-2030s.