Visiting the site on Thursday, near Valenciennes, the group's boss Carlos Tavares announced a boost to this latest technology, still in its infancy and suffering from several faults.

In 2023, the group will launch the mass production of utilities equipped with a fuel cell, a hydrogen system that powers a battery and an electric motor.

In 2024, thirty years after the inauguration of the site, Hordain should have a capacity of 5,000 utilities per year equipped with a fuel cell, or 3% of its annual production.

Sold under the Peugeot, Citroën and Opel brands, they will be intended for the German and French markets, where hydrogen benefits from very large subsidies.

A vehicle being assembled in a workshop at the Stellantis factory in Hordain, northern France, October 27, 2022 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

For the moment, Hordain's 2,400 employees and thousands of robots press, weld metal, paint bodywork, assemble grilles and dashboards, at the rate of 628 vehicles a day, 24 hours a day.

On a single assembly line are assembled the six sister vehicles, produced on the same chassis, in both utility and passenger versions, with seats: the Toyota Pro-Ace, Opel and Vauxhall Vivaro, Peugeot Expert, Fiat Scudo and Citroën Jumpy .

The very compact workshop is crossed by hundreds of AGVs, orange robot-turtles: they have replaced most of the forklift drivers to bring spare parts to each station.

The boss of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, during a press conference on October 27, 2022, organized in the car manufacturer's factory in Hordain (North) Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

"The site has made enormous progress in quality over the past three years," said Tavares.

It will be "from the end of this year the most efficient in the world for commercial vehicles", even if it still has to lower its costs, according to the Portuguese boss.

Electric and hydrogen

Hordain has gone electric since 2020: 43% of models now receive a large battery in their innards, explains Christophe Schaubreock, workshop manager.

Electric, however, only represented 3% of European sales of utilities in 2021, against 90% of diesel, according to figures from manufacturers.

Stellantis defends its position as European leader in this very juicy market (deliverymen, craftsmen, etc.), while small competitors like Arrival are positioning themselves in the electric van market.

Commercial vehicle control operations completed at the Stellantis factory in Hordain (North), October 27, 2022 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

The Hordain plant has also been rather protected from shortages of semiconductors compared to other sites of the group, even if production ended up stopping there for a week in mid-October, for lack of parts.

Across the Channel, the Stellantis factory in Luton continues to manufacture many diesel versions, while Hordain represents the group's versatility and adaptation to the energy transition.

The next step is hydrogen.

With an investment of 10 million euros, the northern plant will add to some of the vehicles at the end of the line the tank, the additional batteries and the fuel cell.

A few dozen hydrogen vehicles had already been assembled at the Rüsselsheim plant (Germany).

More suitable for extra-urban journeys than electric ones, these utilities promise a range of 400 kilometers for recharging in a few minutes.

And they only release water vapor in the exhaust.

A workshop at the Stellantis factory in Hordain (North), October 27, 2022 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

Their mass production should lower their price, which currently stands at 110,000 euros per unit (excluding bonuses).

But it still lacks a distribution network, as well as “green” and inexpensive hydrogen: the extraction of this gas, which consumes a lot of energy, is still very little based on renewable energies.

According to Mr. Tavares, the distribution of hydrogen vehicles "will rather pass through the fleets of large companies which will be able to invest" and install distributors in their premises where the drivers will come to recharge the vehicles after their day.

Stellantis has entered into a partnership with Engie to offer an all-in-one offer, with vehicle, terminal and hydrogen.

The hydrogen offer should be gradually extended to large utilities, such as the Fiat Ducato and pickups such as the Dodge Ram, in the group's factories in Italy, Poland or the United States, said Mr. Tavares.

© 2022 AFP