PARIS — Opel/Vauxhall CEO Uwe Hochgeschurtz will add accountability for bringing Stellantis’ hydrogen gas cell autos to market, beginning with Europe, the automotive group mentioned.
Stellantis has additionally named Jean-Michel Billig, a former government at Renault, aerospace and protection corporations, as chief know-how officer for hydrogen gas cell growth.
Hochgeschurtz was named CEO of Stellantis’ Opel and Vauxhall manufacturers final September. In his further place, he’ll “lead a devoted group to strengthening the corporate’s business offensive with particular give attention to European market initially,” Stellantis mentioned in a information launch Friday.
Stellantis has begun restricted manufacturing of hybrid gas cell business vans in Europe, following an identical transfer by Renault. The know-how combines an electrical drivetrain with a gas cell stack that costs the batteries.
Hydrogen gas cell powertrains promise to mix the zero-emission advantages of a battery-electric drivetrain with the fast refueling time of an internal-combustion engine. Nonetheless, their software has been restricted thus far due to price and an absence of refueling infrastructure.
Most specialists consider that the know-how is finest suited to heavy responsibility vans or business vans that may be refueled at depots.
Billig began his profession in 1988 at Aerospatiale, then moved to Schlumberger Industries. He rejoined Aerospatiale in 1995, then moved to Airbus in 1998, the place he was a buying and engineering supervisor. He moved to Renault Group in 2012 as government vp of engineering, high quality and data companies. He then joined Zodiac Aerospace in 2015 and moved to Naval Group in 2017 as government vp of the Australian Future Submarine Program.
Billig will report back to Stellantis chief engineering officer Harald Wester, and chief know-how officer Ned Curic.
“Having Jean-Michel and Uwe in these complementary roles illustrates our dedication to enhancing our management in hydrogen gas cell know-how,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares mentioned within the launch.