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*.
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*.
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 organization’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.
* The FCH JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) is a public-private partnership that supports research, technological development, and demonstration activities in the field of energy technologies, fuel cells, and hydrogen in Europe. This infrastructure is part of the H2ME 2 project financed by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking as part of subsidy agreement no.700350. This public-private partnership enjoys the support of the European Union's Horizon 2020 and FP7 research and innovation program, Hydrogen Europe, and Hydrogen Europe Research.
Air Liquide is a world leader in gas, technologies, and services for industry and healthcare. Present in 80 countries with approximately 66,000 employees, the Group serves more than 3.6 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902. Air Liquide’s ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long-term performance, and contribute to a more sustainable world.
The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages the energy and environmental transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.
Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to €21 billion in 2018, and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40 and Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 indexes.
Through its two businesses related to national energies and energy efficiency services, Idex group is now a key French player in the energy transition. Its purpose is to reduce the country’s carbon footprint and optimize its customers' energy bills while ensuring their comfort. As such, the group supports the construction of sustainable towns, through the promotion and distribution of renewable local energies (geothermic, biomass) and/or resource recovery (recycling waste, data center, wastewater, cogeneration), down to energy efficiency, and sustainable construction (housing, tertiary, hospitals, industrial sites, etc.).
The leading medium-sized independent French energy service company, Idex generated revenue of €921 million in 2018, and has more than 100 agencies all over France with 4,000 employees, including engineers and specialized technicians.
The world's first fleet of hydrogen-powered taxis, Hype was launched in Paris in December 2015 by Société du Taxi Électrique Parisien (STEP), in partnership with Air Liquide group, joined in 2017 by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
Faced with the urgent public health issue represented by air pollution in urban environments, HYPE's ambition is to organize the massive short-term transition of on-demand transportation to zero emissions, in Paris and then in other major cities. For that, HYPE is showing the way with its own fleet (600 vehicles in Paris by the end of 2020), and with its partners it is creating the conditions for other operators to achieve zero emissions in their turn before the 2024 Olympic Games in the case of Paris.
Toyota is a major player in the global automotive industry. Present in France since 1967, the Group designs, produces, and distributes vehicles in mainland France, employing 9,000 people including 4,300 through its network of 300 Toyota and Lexus distribution sites. In 2018, Toyota France sold more than 111,000 vehicles under the two brands, of which 70% were hybrid vehicles.
Toyota has taken multiple approaches to mobility for many years in order to offer consumers environmentally friendly vehicles: Hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, etc. The group's objective is to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050, compared to the 2010 baseline.
The Toyota Mirai has been on sale in small numbers in France since 2016. As well as the "zero-emission" label, hydrogen vehicles have significant advantages compared to battery-powered electric vehicles including their greater range (550 km NEDC), and a recharging time of just 3 to 5 minutes.