Daimler and Volvo team up to make hydrogen batteries

The alliance seeks to replace the use of fossil fuels in heavy transport vehicles.

German automaker Daimler and Swedish Volvo will join forces to build hydrogen fuel cells for heavy transport, at a time when the sector is trying to leave fossil fuels behind.

“The companies signed a preliminary agreement non-binding for the creation of a joint venturenta “which will bring together Daimler’s activities on this technology and of which the Swedish” Volvo will buy 50% for about 600 million euros, “Mercedes-Benz, Daimler’s division, said in a statement on Wednesday.

This joint venture is valued at 1,200 million euros ($ 1.3 billion).

Volvo Group, of which Volvo Trucks is a part, and Daimler share with the Chinese group Geely the same main shareholder, which bought in 2010 Volvo Cars from Ford.

This alliance “will decrease research and development costs for both groups and will accelerate the launch of “heavy transport fuel cells”, says the German manufacturer.

In the attempt to reduce CO2 emissions of trucks, under the pressure of strict European environmental standards, hydrogen represents an alternative to the battery.

This technology consists of charging a reserve with compressed hydrogen that is transformed into electricity in contact with oxygen in the air, and whose only by-product is water vapor. That electricity It powers an electric motor and the system has a much greater autonomy than those that use a battery. and the recharge time is much shorter. Instead, hydrogen is still a niche, as numerous technological and financial hurdles remain to be overcome.

“By creating this joint venture, we clearly show that we believe in heavyweight fuel cells,” explains Martin Lundsted, president of the Volvo Group. The objective of cooperation is a “series production” of these batteries.

Both companies intend to remove the heavy transport market with this technology in “the second half of the decade,” according to the statement. The partners want a final deal before the third quarter and are counting on closing their transaction “before the end of 2020.”