SAN DIEGO, May 2nd, 2023 — The California Energy Commission (CEC), leading the State effort to a 100% clean energy future for all, has awarded Symbio North America a US$9 million grant to support the establishment of a new industrial facility in Temecula for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle power systems and vehicle assembly.
Symbio, a Faurecia & Michelin joint venture, is a leading innovative partner for Hydrogen mobility pioneers, with more than 30 years of experience and 6 million kilometers driven. A world reference in hydrogen fuel cell systems, Symbio combines industrial leadership and innovation excellence with entrepreneurial agility to deliver zero-emission mobility.
Symbio Fuel Cell drastically reduces vehicle refueling time to 3-5 minutes and enhances range without compromise on performance, payload and capacity. The Temecula 32,000 square feet facility is to assemble regional heavy-duty fuel cell class 8 trucks, medium duty fuel cell vehicles, as well as fuel cell power systems, and will create 63 permanent skilled manufacturing positions over 3 years. It is expected to be operational by 2024 and reaches over time a maximum production capacity of 250 trucks and 2,000 fuel cell power systems per year, allowing to expedite Hydrogenpowered zero emission heavy duty mobility deployment in California.
The CEC grant will support Symbio in developing its manufacturing footprint in the USA and contribute to meet the growing interest and demands by OEMs for clean mobility technology. Furthermore, this grant will also support the establishment of Symbio Hydrogen Academy providing workforce training in the US. Symbio North America is collaborating with UC Riverside, California State LA University and Cerritos College to develop hydrogen academic programs, leveraging Symbio Hydrogen Academy’s support and existing contents developed in Europe. The resulting programs will be made available to the incumbent technicians in the Michelin Commercial Service
Network. The objective is to train at least 185 professional, students, technicians, and fleet operators by 2025.
This is the second CEC award received by Symbio following the grant announcement in April 2022 to support the “Symbio H2 Central Valley Express” project* - a heavy duty fuel cell truck demonstration project with Symbio fuel cell technology to demonstrate the benefits and reliability of hydrogen mobility for regional transportation. Both projects strive to support California’s goal to achieve economy wide carbon neutrality by 2045.
Symbio’s manufacturing footprint in the region. Symbio aims at playing a major role in supporting the adoption of the Hydrogen powered mobility and deploying over time a world class gigafactory to serve the US market needs as Hydrogen is recognized by the federal government as a key lever to achieving its ambitious’ climate goals.
The Temecula plant will produce Symbio’s next generation power system, using stacks initially supplied by the Group’s European facilities and supported by its world-class industrial and innovation capabilities. Furthermore, Symbio is already exploring best opportunities to scale-up and build its fuel cell Gigafactory in the USA.
A strategic development as Symbio fast forwards its industrialization and cutting-edge innovation with the ambition to reach 1.5 billion euro in annual sales with global production capacity of more than 200,000 systems annually by 2030.
(*) Symbio H2 Central Valley Express project aims at developing and demonstrating a hydrogen-fueled, regional-haul Class 8 truck, that matches the performance of a 15-liter diesel truck providing a zero-emission solution for demanding regional-haul trucking operations. Symbio designs, develops, and integrates its fuel cell stack technology and powertrain into a Freightliner Cascadia platform. Starting first half of 2024, the truck will run for 12 months on a challenging 400-mile route between Fontana and Lathrop in California. Located inside California natural gas investor-owned utility territory, it will utilize existing and future public hydrogen infrastructure.
ABOUT SYMBIO
Symbio, a Faurecia & Michelin joint venture, is a leading innovative partner for mobility pioneers, with more than 30 years of experience and 6 million kilometers driven. A world reference in hydrogen fuel cell systems, Symbio combines industrial leadership and innovation excellence with entrepreneurial agility to deliver zero-emission mobility. Whether on-road or off-road, from trucks, vans, buses to logistics equipment or passenger vehicles, its wide range of compact StackPack fuel cell systems meet all requirements for power, durability and range. Symbio is a Stellantis partner in the deployment of the world's first hydrogen-powered light commercial vehicle program. Symbio has nearly 600 employees committed to building a positive future, helping their customers accelerate the deployment of a clean mobility that respects our environment, our air and our health, without compromising on performance.Symbio’s H2Motive range covers all power and durability needs with single- and multi-stack systems engineered with the associated power management systems, electronic control units, cooling, air, and hydrogen loops that generate and control the electrical power. www.symbio.one
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISION
The California Energy Commission is leading the state to a 100 percent clean energy future for all. As the state's primary energy policy and planning agency, the Energy Commission is committed to reducing energy costs and environmental impacts of energy use while ensuring a safe, resilient, and reliable supply of energy.