A California hydrogen vehicle fuel company has announced the completion of a $105 million funding round.
A major hydrogen refuelling operator in the US, FirstElement Fuel Inc., has closed a funding round drawing investment from MUFG Bank, Ltd. (MUFG), Air Water, Nikkiso, and Japan Infrastructure Initiate (JII).
The $105 million investment will be used to expand FirstElement’s California network of hydrogen fuel stations from 31 stations to 80, 1 of which are planned to be heavy-duty filling stations capable of refuelling hydrogen-cell powered trucks as well as cars.
FirstElement opened their first True Zero-brand hydrogen fuelling station in 2015, and have expanded to build the largest network of hydrogen stations across the state of California. This latest funding round is their most ambitious yet, coming in the wake of policies encouraging investment in clean transport coming into effect in the state.
“It’s very encouraging to have partners like these who share our vision of what can be accomplished when we build a network of hydrogen stations,” said Joel Ewanick, Founder and CEO of FirstElement Fuel Inc. “The whole team at FirstElement is very appreciative of all the financial support we are getting so that we can continue to build our vision of a hydrogen network that serves cars and heavy-duty trucks as well as expand from 31 stations to at least 80 over the next few years.”
FirstElement’s key innovation is the use of liquid hydrogen for storage rather than gaseous. Liquid hydrogen is more compact, lowering transport and storage costs per kilogram. According to FirstElement, this leads to a saving of up to 25% on fuelling costs for owners of hydrogen vehicles compared to competitors.
Since their founding in 2015 FirstElement has helped drivers to drive over 170 million miles on hydrogen fuel, averting the release of over 100 million pounds of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
