Global Hydrogen Mobility Alliance
Driving Europe's Hydrogen Future with Strategic Insight
Europe’s hydrogen mobility ecosystem, from carmakers and fuel cell producers to infrastructure operators, and raw material suppliers, is coming together around a shared goal: making hydrogen a central part of EU transport strategy. The technology is proven, industry is aligned, and the momentum is real. But the window is closing for Europe to develop hydrogen mobility alongside batteries. Without urgent political support and proper implementation of policies, Europe risks falling behind and losing the industries, jobs, and energy resilience that hydrogen can deliver.
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Global Hydrogen Mobility Alliance – Europe Core Messages
Europe’s hydrogen mobility ecosystem, from carmakers and fuel cell producers to infrastructure operators, and raw material suppliers, is coming together around a shared goal: making hydrogen a central part of EU transport strategy. The technology is proven, industry is aligned, and the momentum is real. But the window is closing for Europe to develop hydrogen mobility alongside batteries. Without urgent political support and proper implementation of policies, Europe risks falling behind and losing the industries, jobs, and energy resilience that hydrogen can deliver.
Europe needs a diversified zero-emission mobility strategy now.
Europe is at a crossroads. Without urgent action, we risk missing the chance to build a clean, competitive transport system and losing ground to global competitors. A single-technology approach won't cut it. Just like we don’t rely on one engine technology to move us today, we shouldn’t rely on one way to decarbonise mobility. Hydrogen vehicles, alongside battery EVs, are essential for a flexible, efficient, and resilient system. If we don’t act now, others will move faster.
Relying on a single technology makes the clean transition slower, more expensive, and less resilient. A combined battery and hydrogen strategy is how we reach net zero while safeguarding prosperity, jobs, and strategic autonomy – and it could save up to €5 trillion in infrastructure costs by 2050.
Hydrogen mobility powers Europe’s industrial backbone and the just transition.
In a global race where others, like China, are moving fast, supporting the full hydrogen value chain means anchoring quality jobs in Europe, improving our global competitiveness, and reducing dependencies.
Hydrogen technologies in mobility build on Europe’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, automotive engineering, and precision components. Scaling hydrogen mobility could create up to 500,000 high-skilled, future-proof jobs and keep value chains local.
Europe needs a diversified zero-emission mobility strategy now.
Europe is at a crossroads. Without urgent action, we risk missing the chance to build a clean, competitive transport system and losing ground to global competitors. A single-technology approach won't cut it. Just like we don’t rely on one engine technology to move us today, we shouldn’t rely on one way to decarbonise mobility. Hydrogen vehicles, alongside battery EVs, are essential for a flexible, efficient, and resilient system. If we don’t act now, others will move faster.
Relying on a single technology makes the clean transition slower, more expensive, and less resilient. A combined battery and hydrogen strategy is how we reach net zero while safeguarding prosperity, jobs, and strategic autonomy – and it could save up to €5 trillion in infrastructure costs by 2050.
Hydrogen’s scale-up in mobility makes the whole system more efficient.
Hydrogen vehicles play a crucial role in integrating Europe’s energy and transport systems. Their deployment boosts aggregated hydrogen demand across sectors, which justifies investment in shared infrastructure, enabling the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, chemicals, and aviation in the process.
Each year, huge amounts of renewable energy are being wasted because we can’t store or move it. In 2024, €2.8 billion worth of renewable production was lost to curtailment in Germany alone. By connecting the dots across energy, transport, and industry, hydrogen can change that. It’s smart system integration in action.
Public and private stakeholders must deliver together.
This is a joint mission. Fostering a competitive and self-sustaining market for hydrogen mobility will only succeed if governments and industry move together. This means a concrete, co-developed roadmap backed by funding opportunities, predictable regulation, and effective implementation in practice.
Leading industry players, including the signatories of the global hydrogen mobility alliance joint letter, are ready to invest. Now governments must match that ambition. Collaboration is needed to align EU and national funding schemes with market realities to ensure laser-focus on the highest-impact measures for different stages of market activation.
CEO Letter
Fueling Europe's Clean Mobility Transition
Key Messages
Diversified zero-emission mobility
Europe shouldn’t rely on one technology for clean transport. Combining hydrogen and battery technologies is faster, cheaper, and more resilient – potentially saving up to €500 billion in infrastructure cost.
Urgent policy action is needed
Europe already has the tools, laws and funding plans, but they need to be implemented now. The vehicles are on the market and the technology is mature. Swift, targeted implementation of existing policies will close the cost gap and make commercially-driven hydrogen mobility a reality.
Industrial strength and jobs at stake
Hydrogen mobility builds on Europe’s strength: skilled engineers and an innovative industrial ecosystem. Up to 500,000 skilled jobs depend on hydrogen mobility being scaled up. Hydrogen-based mobility supports Europe’s prosperity, strategic autonomy, and global competitiveness.
System-wide efficiency
Hydrogen links transport, energy, and industry. It stores clean energy, optimising the use of renewables, and helps clean up sectors like steel and aviation. It’s about making the whole system work smarter and better.
Partnerships make it possible
This is a joint mission. Industry is investing, and governments must deliver clear policies, funding opportunities, and a coordinated rollout strategy in close collaboration with industry – this is why this alliance is being formed.
Separating Fact From Fiction
Hydrogen is less efficient than batteries
Claim: A hydrogen-fuelled drivetrain is significantly less energy-efficient than battery-electric drivetrains.
Reality:
Efficiency must be viewed through a system-wide lens and not just at the level of an individual vehicle. Hydrogen contributes to overall energy system optimisation. By enabling long-duration storage and flexible power use, hydrogen helps absorb surplus renewable electricity that would otherwise be curtailed. For example, in 2024 alone, Germany curtailed 9 TWh of renewable electricity worth €2.8 billion due to grid congestion[1]. Hydrogen allows this stranded energy to be stored, transported, and used across sectors, including transport, enhancing the utilisation of clean energy and improving system resilience. When considered holistically, hydrogen boosts the efficiency and sustainability of Europe’s entire energy and transport ecosystem.
1. Bundesnetzagentur (2025)
The cost of hydrogen infrastructure is too high
Claim: Building hydrogen infrastructure is too expensive and unjustified.
Reality:
Hydrogen grid and refuelling infrastructure does require upfront investment, but so does electric vehicle infrastructure, from deploying charging points to expanding the electricity grid. When viewed in the context of the broader system cost, a dual infrastructure approach is actually more cost-effective. Figures by the EU Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking show that a combined battery-electric and hydrogen infrastructure strategy could save Europe up to €300–500 billion by 2050[2], compared to pursuing a BEV-only approach. In high-throughput locations such as logistics hubs, fleet depots, and motorway corridors, hydrogen stations can serve large volumes of vehicles efficiently with minimal land use and without putting pressure on the power grid. These characteristics make hydrogen infrastructure not just viable, but economically strategic when used complementarily to the electricity grid.
2. Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (2022): The road to net zero – Publications Office of the EU
Hydrogen mobility is not the right priority/competes with industrial needs
Claim: Hydrogen supply is limited and mobility use diverts it from more important industrial sectors like steel or chemicals.
Reality:
Scaling up hydrogen requires aggregated, high-volume demand, and mobility provides exactly that. Road transport, especially in the commercial and fleet sectors, enables predictable, high-frequency usage that justifies early infrastructure investment. This in turn benefits hard-to-abate sectors by accelerating the buildout of clean hydrogen supply chains and reducing costs for all users. The idea that mobility competes with industry misreads the market dynamic: it actually supports the development of a shared hydrogen backbone that serves multiple sectors. In addition, the implementation of the Emissions Trading System extension to road transport (ETS 2) will further strengthen the business case for hydrogen mobility.
Hydrogen is a distraction from electrification
Claim: Policymakers should focus all resources on battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) to decarbonise faster, rather than splitting attention with hydrogen.
Reality:
A one-size-fits-all approach is risky, especially for a continent as diverse as Europe. Hydrogen and batteries are complementary solutions, not competitors. Transport has always relied on multiple technologies to facilitate user choice and address performance and infrastructure limits. A multipath approach is safer, cleaner, and more affordable in the long run. Hydrogen mobility enables broader, faster decarbonisation and supports system resilience, particularly by relieving strain on the electric grid during scale-up. Meeting Europe’s ambitious climate targets requires every viable zero-emission tool available. This makes hydrogen a necessary part of a comprehensive strategy.
Hydrogen vehicles are corporate greenwashing
Claim: Hydrogen is being promoted as a way for legacy auto and fossil fuel companies to delay the transition to clean transport, or to greenwash their business models.
Reality:
Hydrogen mobility is a strategic industrial transition backed by real investment and engineering leadership. The companies involved in advancing hydrogen vehicles span energy innovators, automotive manufacturers, and clean tech developers, many of whom are actively decarbonising their own operations. These firms are investing capital, deploying vehicles, and building infrastructure, not just lobbying. Critically, this transformation supports European technology leadership and industrial resilience.
The job creation numbers are unrealistic
Claim: The impact of hydrogen mobility on European jobs is minimal.
Reality:
The job projections are based on Europe’s existing industrial strengths, particularly in automotive manufacturing, engineering, and advanced materials. Hydrogen mobility leverages this foundation to create high-value roles in fuel cell development, vehicle systems, and infrastructure deployment. Hydrogen Europe estimates that up to 500,000 skilled jobs could be created by 2030[3], anchored in Europe’s competitive advantage in precision engineering and component production. These are not hypothetical figures – they represent a continuation of Europe’s leadership in automotive innovation together with the new jobs created by the growing hydrogen economy.
Battery supply chains are already well established and secure
Claim: Battery electric supply chains are already established, so hydrogen supply chains would only add unnecessary complexity.
Reality:
Battery supply chains have advanced quickly, but they depend heavily on imported critical materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, posing long-term geopolitical and sustainability risks. The risks of less and less diversified critical minerals to battery supply chains have already been recognised by the International Energy Agency[4]. Hydrogen fuel cell systems, by contrast, rely on platinum group metals (PGMs), where Europe has more developed recycling and sourcing capabilities. This makes hydrogen a strategic diversification technology that strengthens Europe’s autonomy and industrial resilience. Investing in both technologies provides a more secure and future-proof supply base for zero-emission mobility, while reducing overdependence on any single technology or trade partner.
What works elsewhere doesn’t necessarily work in Europe
Claim: Using China’s hydrogen progress as a justification is misleading and non-transferable to Europe.
Reality:
China’s experience demonstrates that hydrogen mobility is viable at scale, with over 28,000 hydrogen vehicles deployed and more than 500 refuelling stations operational[5], with a target to reach 1 million hydrogen cars on roads by 2035[6]. Europe needs to establish its own strategy to scale up hydrogen mobility, as falling behind on deployment risks losing technology leadership, industrial capacity, and future export markets. Strategic sectors like energy and mobility demand timely action. Europe has the innovation and industrial base to lead, if it seizes the moment.
Hydrogen vehicles are not proven and lack consumer acceptance
Claim: Hydrogen vehicles remain unproven, and consumers are unlikely to adopt them due to refuelling complexity and lack of trust.
Reality:
Hydrogen mobility is already delivering real-world value in Europe. In Paris, the city’s 1,000 hydrogen taxis have collectively covered over 3 million kilometres of service, averaging thousands of kilometres a month[7][8]. Across Europe, light-duty hydrogen vehicles have covered over 15 million kilometres[9], with positive feedback on reliability and refuelling speed. Hydrogen refuelling typically takes 5–10 minutes – comparable to petrol or diesel – offering a familiar experience for users. The initial experience from hydrogen mobility has come from professional users who make decisions based on operational benefits and reliability. While mass consumer awareness is still growing, early adopters and fleet users are already demonstrating that hydrogen vehicles are safe, viable, and increasingly welcomed by drivers. As infrastructure expands, public confidence and uptake will follow.
BEV costs will fall faster
Claim: Battery-electric vehicles will always have a lower total cost of ownership than hydrogen vehicles.
Reality:
While BEVs may be more effective for some light-duty applications, hydrogen vehicles become particularly competitive – often superior – for high-mileage, heavy-duty, and time-sensitive use cases. These include logistics fleets, buses, taxis, and long-distance trucks, where fuelling time and range are critical to productivity. As hydrogen infrastructure expands and production scales up, total cost of ownership for these segments will continue to decline. In many cases, the market is already moving towards parity with BEVs.
Hydrogen can only succeed with public subsidies
Claim: Hydrogen projects rely too much on subsidies and mostly benefit a small number of corporations rather than the public.
Reality:
What hydrogen mobility needs is not unlimited subsidies, but smart, targeted support – just as BEVs have received. No clean energy technology has ever scaled up without subsidies, and modest public investment in vehicles, infrastructure, and clean hydrogen supply can unlock large volumes of private capital and deliver significant public value in terms of emissions reduction, jobs, and energy resilience. This is not about favouring one industry but about catalysing a competitive and self-sustaining zero-emission transport ecosystem. Promoting the use of hydrogen supports the shared objective to reach net-zero by 2050. And like all clean technologies, hydrogen needs public support to get off the ground. As production increases and infrastructure matures, costs will fall. The goal is to build a viable market that pays off both environmentally and economically.
Policy for hydrogen mobility is already in place
Claim: No more policy is needed.
Reality:
The Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and the updated Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) establish a vital regulatory baseline, but their success depends on effective implementation and policy alignment. This is even more crucial as the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure targets in AFIR are meant to provide only the bare minimum of what is needed. Gaps remain in funding access, permitting, and harmonised rollout across member states. To ensure hydrogen mobility delivers on its potential, additional strategic coordination is needed, especially around infrastructure corridors, fleet incentives, and early market activation. Europe must move from planning to delivery if it wants to maintain global leadership in zero-emission transport.
Hydrogen is an inefficient choice for consumers
Claim: Promoting hydrogen mobility limits consumer access to the most efficient decarbonisation options.
Reality:
Decarbonisation should empower, not restrict, consumer choice, as hydrogen vehicles (FCEVs and H2ICE) offer clear operational advantages for many use cases. For example, hydrogen provides longer range, typically exceeding 400–700 km per tank, and can refuel in just 5–10 minutes, matching the speed and flexibility of traditional combustion engine operations. This makes hydrogen particularly efficient for long-distance driving and for high-utilisation heavy-duty vehicles, such as buses, taxis, and lorries, where downtime is costly and high daily mileage is the norm. In contrast, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) face range limitations, long charging times, and payload penalties due to battery weight. Integrating hydrogen into mobility enables a more innovative, cost-effective, and resilient road transport system.
Hydrogen mobility is unsafe
Claim: Hydrogen vehicles present more safety risks than other zero-emission options.
Reality:
Hydrogen vehicles meet stringent EU and global safety standards and are already operating safely around the world. Hydrogen storage tanks are rigorously tested to withstand high impact, fire resistance, and pressure scenarios. Refuelling protocols and safety measures are standardised and continuously monitored. Hydrogen’s physical properties, such as rapid upward dispersion, can also make it safer than traditional fuels, mitigating fire hazards. Like all advanced technologies, safety depends on design and oversight, and hydrogen vehicles have proven their reliability and safety.
Hydrogen combustion engines have no role in clean mobility transition
Claim: Hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2ICE) technology is outdated and unnecessary and has no space in Europe’s clean mobility strategy.
Reality:
Hydrogen combustion engines offer a practical and accessible route to zero-carbon mobility by building on Europe’s existing automotive infrastructure. H2ICE’s can leverage existing engine designs, lowering upfront costs for consumers and speeding up deployment by allowing simpler integration into current vehicle fleets. This means manufacturers can repurpose existing production lines, suppliers can continue delivering proven components, and mechanics can maintain vehicles using familiar tools and procedures. H2ICE vehicles also use the same hydrogen refuelling infrastructure as fuel cell vehicles, contributing to network scale-up and supporting demand aggregation. By widening the range of viable zero-emission technologies, H2ICE strengthens the overall transition and makes clean mobility more accessible across Europe.
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