Hydrogen: Daimler Truck, Volvo and Toyota play the unity card

A demonstration that, faced with technological and economic challenges, cooperation is today becoming a lever as important as competition.

Just a few years ago, imagining Daimler Truck, Volvo Group and Toyota working hand in hand was almost science fiction. Yet the commercial vehicle industry is undergoing a profound transformation where the investments required to develop new powertrains now exceed the capacities that a manufacturer can reasonably assume alone.

The three groups have thus just signed a definitive agreement allowing Toyota Motor Corporation to join cellcentric, the joint venture created in 2021 by Daimler Truck and Volvo Group and specialised in the development of fuel cell systems intended for heavy-duty applications.

At the end of the transaction, which still has to receive approval from the competition authorities, each of the three partners will hold one third of the company’s capital.

A response to a colossal industrial challenge

The message sent by this alliance is clear: if manufacturers continue to engage in fierce competition in the truck market, certain challenges are now too great to be tackled individually.

Developing high-performance hydrogen technology requires investments of several billion euros, substantial industrial volumes and highly specialised expertise. By bringing together Toyota’s experience, a global pioneer in fuel cells, with Daimler Truck and Volvo Group’s know-how in heavy transport, the three industrial companies hope to accelerate the development of more efficient and, above all, more competitive systems.

The stated objective is to make cellcentric one of the world leaders in fuel cells for commercial vehicles.

Much more than the truck

The strategy is not limited to road tractors alone.

The systems developed by cellcentric will also equip off-road vehicles, coaches, railway equipment, stationary generators and heavy industrial machinery.

This diversification should make it possible to rapidly increase production volumes, an essential condition for bringing down the manufacturing costs of the technology.

Building an entire ecosystem

The three partners nevertheless know that technology alone will not be enough.

One of the main obstacles to the development of hydrogen remains the absence of a sufficiently developed production and distribution network.

That is why Daimler Truck, Volvo Group and Toyota announce that they want to work with all the players in the industry in order to accelerate the creation of a genuine hydrogen ecosystem: production, transport, refuelling stations and infrastructure will have to evolve simultaneously if this technology is to become a credible alternative to diesel over long distances.

Each remains a competitor

This alliance does not, however, mean the disappearance of competition between the three manufacturers.

Outside cellcentric, Daimler Truck, Volvo Group and Toyota will continue to develop and market their own vehicles completely independently.

In other words, they are pooling research into a strategic technology while remaining rivals in the market.

A trend that is becoming clearer

This new step illustrates a fundamental shift in the heavy truck industry.

As environmental regulations become stricter and investments explode, major manufacturers are multiplying technological partnerships to share costs and accelerate innovation.

After battery-electric technology, hydrogen could therefore follow the same trajectory: that of a technology developed collectively before each manufacturer differentiates itself through its own vehicles.

With more than 560 engineers spread between Germany and Canada and nearly 700 patents filed, cellcentric now has the human and technological resources to aspire to a major role in the future of heavy-duty mobility. The remaining task is now to bring about the other essential piece of the puzzle: a sufficiently dense hydrogen infrastructure to enable this technology to move from potential to reality.