Curtain Falls on Hydrogen Truck Maker Hyzon
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Hydrogen fuel cell electric truck manufacturer Hyzon closed its doors Feb. 18, according to an executive, almost exactly four years after promising to produce 40,000 trucks in 2025.
A hollowed-out Hyzon struggled through the past couple of months’ search for a last-minute reprieve via additional funding or a buyer, but none materialized following December warnings of layoffs and board expectations.
The company’s end came Feb. 18, said David Zhang, senior director of controls, software and system integration, in a social media post.
A Feb. 13 shareholder vote sealed the company’s fate absent a white-knight investor.
Company representatives were not available for comment and Hyzon is yet to file any notice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bolingbrook, Ill.-based Hyzon’s demise was preceded most immediately by senior employees advertising publicly they were looking for work, including Justin Yee, vice president of global systems engineering; Andy Blysniuk, senior manager of engineering services; and Alan Frampton, senior director of battery and vehicle electrical engineering-EV/FCEV.
“The dissolution of Hyzon impacts an amazing group of talented people. It’s sad to see it end,” Blysniuk noted in an “open to work” posting on LinkedIn.
At the top of the executive tree, Parker Meeks stepped down as CEO on Feb. 4, the company said in a Feb. 5 SEC filing. Meeks was appointed CEO permanently in April 2023, having held the role on an interim basis since August 2022. Previously, Meeks was the company’s chief strategy officer.
Private equity-backed hydrogen production startup Utility announced Meeks joined the company as CEO on Feb. 18. Utility converts industrial waste gas into hydrogen and enriched carbon dioxide.
Chief Technology Officer Christian Mohrdieck replaced Meeks as the company’s top executive for the company’s final days. Mohrdieck joined Hyzon in January 2024.
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Prior to joining Hyzon, Mohrdieck was chief commercial officer at hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer Cellcentric and before that led truck manufacturer Daimler Truck’s fuel cell program.
Hyzon issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices to employees in Illinois and Michigan on Dec. 20, providing the 60 days’ notice to staff required by federal law.
The company said an inability to raise further funding and future uncertainty relating to the availability of government subsidies, particularly the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, prompted the WARN notifications.
The availability of the subsidies caused certain customers to slow down or suspend their purchasing decisions, Hyzon said Dec. 20.
A day earlier, Hyzon’s board voted to dissolve the company if no rescue funding arrived and shareholders voted to liquidate the entity.
Hyzon delivered four trucks to Performance Food Group’s Vistar facility in Fontana, Calif., in December 2023. (Hyzon)
Hyzon began warning as early as June 2023 that layoffs in the U.S. and a new owner were a possibility and that more funds were needed even as the start of serial production of its Class 8 tractor approached.
In September, Hyzon began series production of its 200-kilowatt Class 8 tractor. Production took place at a Fontaine Modification facility in Charlotte, N.C. In October, Hyzon started series production in Bolingbrook of the 200-kW fuel cell system set to power its trucks.
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But the company had already shuttered its overseas operations, including in the Netherlands and Australia, as cash burn continued to outpace revenue by a substantial margin, a consistent theme throughout Hyzon’s short history.
Hyzon was spun out of Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies. In February 2021, the company went public through a merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. The merger resulted in Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. becoming Hyzon Motors Inc.
Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, headed by one-time Hyzon CEO and chairman George Gu, continues to produce fuel cells and electrolyzers. An electrolyzer is a device that uses electricity to divide water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The hydrogen is then used to fuel vehicles or power generation.
Gu, whose role at Hyzon ended in August 2023, unveiled a 400-kW fuel cell in November he expects to be used to power trucks, ships, trains, aircraft and data centers.
Hyzon also found some high-profile fuel cell truck believers in the U.S., including Performance Food Group and recycler Greenwaste. Richmond, Va.-based food distributor PFG ranks No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
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However, losses continued to mount and Hyzon’s cash pile dwindled. Hyzon posted a loss of $41.3 million in the third quarter of 2024. It had $30.4 million of liquid assets at the end of the quarter, compared with $55.1 million three months earlier and $112.3 million at the start of 2024. In the end, the money ran out.
Hyzon’s peers in the hydrogen truck firmament are experiencing similarly chastening times — including Nikola and Quantron — leading to layoffs, asset sales and a possible 2025 decimation of challengers to legacy truck makers.
