Stellantis: Sky high cost of hydrogen limits potential, but neither can BEVs meet every need

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares does not believe in a one-size fits all carbon-neutral solution for the world’s transportation needs, reports Reuters and Automotive News Europe.

Whether it’s hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) or battery electric vehicles (BEVs), Tavares says neither is an acceptable solution for the developing countries in the Global South, where transportation poverty and energy poverty is a bigger problem.

"We should move away from a dogmatic thinking where one size fits all," Tavares said last week at Stellantis-supported Freedom of Mobility Forum. "I don't think this is going to work. What I would like to add is that the current EVs can be a solution for some of our societies."

Tavares also said for battery EVs to be truly green, the industry needs ‘significant breakthrough’ in battery chemistry to cut the weight of BEVs by half.

The former rally driver turned CEO said “It doesn't make sense” to put 500 kg of raw materials in a BEV to achieve a "decent" range of 400 km.

However, Tavares said he is hopeful that breakthroughs in battery chemistry will solve scarcity of lithium, which will need to be mined more when BEV sales volumes go up.

The forum was also attended by Roberto Schaeffer, professor of energy economics at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, who explained in the Global South, access to stable electricity grid is not equal.

Schaeffer said 800 million people in the world still don’t have access to electricity / stable power grid to rely on.

"We have to think about energy poverty. Transportation poverty is a real thing in the global south. We have to have in mind that there is no one size fits all when it comes to mobility," he said.

On hydrogen, which Stellantis is also working on for its commercial vans, Tavares said ‘sky high’ cost of hydrogen fuel is limiting its potential in the near-term.

"I'm afraid that, for the time being, affordability is going to be a major showstopper for hydrogen," he said. "For the near future, it's [possibly] going to be a solution for fleets of big corporations, but certainly not for normal citizens."

Also read: Europe's No.1 EV group, Stellantis is latest to follow Toyota-style multi-pathway strategy to carbon neutrality - converting 2014 engines to burn synthetic fuel

Stellantis has previously announced that it will be launching Leapmotor - a Chinese BEV brand it has a 20% stake in - as a budget BEV brand in Malaysia. Local assembly (CKD) was also hinted.