The aim of SYMBIO (Faurecia Michelin hydrogen company) is to develop, produce and commercialize hydrogen fuel cell systems for light and utility vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and other areas of activity.
With SYMBIO both Joint-Venture partners share the ambition, by combining their expertize, to become key players in the area of hydrogen fuel cell systems. The company will start by targeting the Utility and Heavy Goods Vehicles market before moving on to upmarket passenger cars, which should kick off in Asia.
Technically, SYMBIO focuses on a structure in which the fuel cell completes the powertrain of a conventional electric vehicle. Adding a fuel cell upstream of the battery pack will give access to both the low usage cost from the batteries and the flexibility and autonomy offered by the fuel cell.
Concerning production, SYMBIO will consolidate all its skills in one production site, whose location remains to be decided. This site will find itself at the heart of the Symbio R&D facilities, employing 200 staff across various sites: Grenoble, Le Bourget du Lac, Bavans, Lyon, Fribourg, Paris and Clermont-Ferrand.
