Hydrogen fuelling station manufacturer FirstElement Fuel will celebrate its 10th anniversary this month at its Irvine, California, headquarters.
Since the company was founded in 2013, its goal was to foster the widespread adoption of fuel cell vehicles, improve driving economics, and reduce harmful emissions and change the automotive sector globally.
FirstElement leads the world in retail hydrogen station design, development and operation, serving customers with 85 retail hydrogen dispensers throughout a 40-station network in California, all operated under the company’s True Zero brand. FirstElement has dispensed 5.5 million kg of hydrogen in its lifetime.
The company has been supported by government funds from the California Energy Commission, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and the Sacramento Municipal Air Quality Management District over the past decade.
Joel Ewanick, CEO and Founder of FirstElement Fuel, said, “We have seen fantastic hydrogen cars and trucks brought to market by automakers since the creation of our company 10 years ago, and we see that the vehicles are ready from prime time.
“We believe that what we are creating in California will serve as a framework that can be exported throughout the US and the rest of the world, helping us achieve our mission.”
FirstElement has implemented its own design to develop hydrogen refuelling stations that can fill four cars simultaneously and demonstrated hydrogen refuelling of multiple heavy-duty trucks at the 70MPa standard. They have the capability to fill these vehicles in under five minutes, 24 hours a day, all week, without requiring an attendant.
Through its True Zero brand, the company is building the largest heavy-duty truck station in the world, capable of refuelling heavy, medium and light-duty vehicle classes. This is part of the partnership in which Hyundai Motor will supply 30 XCIENT Fuel Cell vehicles.
Ewanick added, “We understand there are still some headwinds facing hydrogen and cost is a significant one. But at the same time, we have managed to keep all of our hydrogen 100% carbon free and there are imminent state and federal energy policies that will help level the cost playing field with polluting, petroleum-based fuels.
“Our Mission Statement has not changed since inception. We will keep working to build more stations and supply hydrogen. Now we are turning our focus to driving down the hydrogen price at the pump – we hear our customers, and we will fight for you, that is a promise from FirstElement Fuel.”
