Air Liquide, Idex, STEP, and Toyota create HysetCo to promote the development of hydrogen mobility

Air Liquide, Idex, Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP), and Toyota are teaming up with a joint-venture called HysetCo, the first ever company devoted to the development of hydrogen mobility in the Paris region. As a part of this venture, Paris will have 600 Hype hydrogen taxis by the end of 2020.

This collaboration represents a major landmark in the emergence of a hydrogen-based society in France and in the development of Hype, the world's first fleet of zero-emission hydrogen-powered taxis, launched in 2015 during the COP21 and operated in Paris and throughout the Île-de-France region.

HysetCo will make it easier to roll out hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their recharging infrastructure within the Île-de-France region in order to reach the objective of 600 taxis by the end of 2020. Toyota will deliver an additional 500 Mirais by the end of 2020, which will complete the existing fleet of 100 Hype vehicles.

This joint-venture covers two activities: The distribution of hydrogen and the development of mobility-related applications; with each stakeholder bringing their own expertise within this ecosystem.

Through this project, the partners are giving a concrete form to their commitment to clean mobility and the improvement of air quality, as well as illustrating that hydrogen mobility is a suitable solution for intensive applications like passenger transportation. The organisation's mission is to promote the sector's transition towards zero emissions, with an objective of “zero emissions for taxis/VTCs by the 2024 Paris Olympic Games”.

Hype's fleet of taxis will also be able to rely on a wider network of charging stations, following the recent opening of a new recharging point in Roissy, near Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, which joins the existing ones (Paris-Orly, Les-Loges-en-Josas, and Pont de l'Alma). This hydrogen station in Roissy was designed and built by Air Liquide with the support of the FCH JU (Fuel Cells And Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) public-private partnership.