The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded Symbio North America a $9 million grant to support the establishment of a new industrial facility in Temecula, Calif. for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle power systems and vehicle assembly, according to the company.
Symbio says its fuel cell technology reduces vehicle refueling time to 3-5 minutes and enhances range without compromising on performance, payload and capacity. The Temecula 32,000 square feet facility will assemble regional heavy-duty fuel cell Class 8 trucks, medium-duty fuel cell vehicles, and fuel cell power systems, and will create 63 permanent manufacturing positions over three years. According to a recent press release, it is expected to be operational by 2024 and with a maximum production capacity of 250 trucks and 2,000 fuel cell power systems per year, allowing the industry to expedite hydrogen-powered zero-emission heavy-duty mobility deployment in California.
The CEC grant will support Symbio in developing its manufacturing footprint in the U.S. and contribute to meeting 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 U.S. 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 company says. 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, the company says.
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 showcase the benefits and reliability of hydrogen mobility for regional transportation, Symbio says. Both projects strive to support California’s goal to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045, the company says.
