Truck maker Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) is making a desperate and public last ditch plea to Barclays Bank and tech investors to provide £9m of funding to prevent the company from being wound up in four weeks time.
The company is seeking £9m to allow it complete the development of its AI-driven retrofit technology, which it claims can slash a truck’s carbon emissions by five tonnes and its fuel costs by up to £2,500 a year.
HVS has been battling to stay solvent for some time. In November last year it emerged that the company had made a swathe of redundancies as it struggled to secure further funding.
Shortly after a petition ordering the Glasgow-based manufacturer of hydrogen trucks be wound up and placed into liquidation was presented to the Court of Session in Edinburgh by Fablink (Northampton), a metal fabricator and hydraulic tanks supplier.
In an open letter published this week, HVS chief scientific officer and former nuclear physicist, Dr David Telford (pictured), called on Steven Poulter, head of Barclays Climate Ventures, and on climate tech investors and philanthropists worldwide, to help prevent the company from being closed down, at what he described is a critical moment in the development of his patented retrofit black box technology.
Dr Telford’s AI-powered, plug-and-play cruise control system, named AI-SEMAS, retrofits onto existing diesel trucks to cut fuel costs and lower carbon emissions
In the letter DrTelford said the system offers a range of unque benefits, that make it stand out in the market.
He explained: “Unlike competitors, who restrict this type of vehicle control and energy optimization technology to their own fleets, HVS is seeking to make its AI cruise control accessible to trucking OEMs worldwide, and, most importantly, directly to fleet owners, helping them save money and cut carbon today..
“Additionally, AI-SEMAS unlocks geospatial advantages such as real time road condition and pothole mapping, while its logistics networking enables empty load sharing, creating new revenue streams for truck owners, while further reducing emissions.”
“AI-SEMAS is ready, scalable and backed by strong JV interest in India, with a clear pathway to revenue within 12 months. By focusing on this core technology, we present an exciting investment opportunity to lead the decarbonisation of the trucking industry.
“The ask is for £9m, which represents a low cost opportunity in the clean tech climate sector. While HVS has invested tens of millions, we are currently sitting with only £7m in debt as the net technology development cost. We are now seeking £9m to get to a positive cash position and capitalise on the IP asset we have developed.
“We believe this is a rare opportunity to acquire a game-changing emissions reduction technology at a modest price with limitless, global scalability.”
In a direct plea to Barclays, Dr Telford wrote: ”A £9m investment from Barclays will secure HVS’s future, enabling revenue generation within 12 months.”
He added: “The time to act is now. Failure to act could mean losing a leading UK clean tech company and wasting taxpayer funded innovation that could have a real impact on achieving net zero.
“HVS is not just another startup. It is a PWC-recognized leader in UK AI climate tech, set to feature in the upcoming March 2025 Future 50 report.
“With a low capex, high margin, SaaS and IP driven model, HVS allies perfectly with Barclay’s mission to fund scalable, high impact solutions for cleaner and more efficient transport across our industries.
“With your support. HVS can transition from innovation to commercialisation, delivering large scale emissions reductions and setting a new standard for AI driven decarbonisation. This is a pivotal moment for UK climate tech, your leadership can define its success.
He concluded: “I urge you to act now before this breakthrough opportunity is lost.”
Dr Telford’s plea for funding comes just weeks after HVS chief executive Abdul Waheed issued “an urgent call” for investment of £700,000 to avoid legal action, which he alleged was due to the previous leadership ignoring warnings from a Barclays hydrogen investment expert that focusing on manufacturing without generating revenue from licensing the technology was unsustainable and destined to fail.
He said that decision had resulted in £7m of supply chain debt and a £1.4m creditor demand.
“Last year, Tevva, Hyzon, Quantron, and Arrival went bust,” Waheed said at the time.
“So, why are we still standing?
“Our vehicle control software and propulsion technology are the result of £50m in investment to date, allowing us to shift from a capital-intensive manufacturing model to a lean, low-risk technology licensing model,” Waheed added.
