Hydrogen ute rollout delayed
THE glitzy Gold Coast launch of a $200,000 hydrogen-powered ute has been delayed and plans to produce the vehicles here have been spiked indefinitely.
H2X Global issued an enthusiastic press release in September, announcing a November launch and boasting $50m in pre-sales of its Warrego ute, to be built on a Ford Ranger base. However, the launch did not eventuate, the company is yet to gain regulator approval to sell its modified vehicles, and it does not hold a patent for its technology in Australia.
The plan to begin delivering 200 utes to customers from April 2022 is also challenged by supply issues for the base ute Ford Rangers, with Ford saying it has no record of any orders from H2X in Australia.
New cars globally have been plagued by long wait times due to lockdowns and factory shutdowns, and short supply of Chinese-made semiconductors vital for vehicle computer systems.
Despite the setbacks, H2X said it remained committed to delivering the utes to its customers in April as promised.
Tony Blackie, H2X Global’s vice president of communications and government, said plans to modify vehicles on the Gold Coast, and to hold a November launch here, had been hobbled by the pandemic.
“Global supply chain issues have caused major disruption for all Australian businesses which rely on the importation of components and material,” he said. “In addition, we were faced with restricted movement due to Covid as we have members of our technical team in Melbourne and overseas in Europe and Asia.
“We have also experienced some funding issues which have been resolved but have caused delays in purchasing vital materials for the project.”
While it is yet to gain regulatory approval to convert Ford Rangers, or order them from Ford, a number of images on the H2X website closely resemble Ford’s promotional photos for the Ranger.
The statement from Ford Australia said it did not authorise the use of its images. “... Ford Australia has no records of any vehicle purchases or orders made by H2X in our systems. There is limited availability to secure current model Ranger product.”
Before a vehicle can be sold in Australia it must be entered on to the Register of Approved Vehicles, a searchable database which confirms a vehicle has been imported or manufactured legally.
Modifications of existing vehicles for on-sale to consumer are known as “second stage of manufacture”, and can be approved under either a vehicle-type approval or to the registered automotive scheme. Searches of the government’s online vehicle-type approvals gave no results for the Warrego ute, or anything else under the H2X name.
A patent application for a hydrogen fuel cell industrial vehicle, held by H2X CEO Brendan Norman through his previous company, Pateo Kinetic, has lapsed since it was filed in June 2020.
Mr Blackie said the vehicle conversions were “being developed to full EU and Australian regulation” with a European partner, in the Netherlands. “With both approaches the vehicle is harmonised as best as possible between both jurisdictions,” he said. “Patents on these vehicles and other major products are in train. These will be in place by launch time.”
Mr Blackie said Queensland border closures had forced the company to relocate plans for Gold Coast production to a facility in Gippsland, Victoria. “However, our Queensland-based partners will be primary as we move forward with other activities, which will be announced in the short course, but which are clearly subject now to logistic challenges.”
Mr Blackie said he had no concerns about obtaining the supply of Ford Ranger base vehicles necessary to fill orders of the Warrego ute. “The Queensland market is vital to us and we will be ensuring that when we are in a position to do so, we will be running a major event to showcase our product.” He said the venue was likely to be the Gold Coast or Brisbane.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, which regulates vehicle approvals, said it could not discuss individual applications.
H2X is also involved in plans to provide seven hydrogen-powered trucks to a Queensland skip bin business.
H2X’S largest shareholders are Liberty Energy Capital and Asx-listed Pure Hydrogen, which has a 24 per cent stake in the company. Last month, Pure Hydrogen announced it had created a new company, Pure X Mobility, which is solely directed by Scott Brown, a director of H2X Global.