Australian start-up unveils ambitious plan for hydrogen-powered Ford Ranger ute

Little known start-up H2X Global claims it plans to bring hydrogen power to Ford Ranger in a facility in Victoria’s Gippsland region, in the latest local effort to develop a zero-emissions ute.

A little-known company has joined the race between multiple Australian start-ups to mass-produce a zero-emissions ute for commercial buyers.

In 2020, Melbourne-based hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle (FCEV) specialist H2X Global announced its plans to produce the Warrego ute in Port Kembla south of Sydney – and pledged to have a demonstration vehicle ready within months.

While the company says the H2X Global Warrego is still undergoing validation and verification testing in the Netherlands to be certified for Europe and global markets, the Australian company claims local testing will commence soon. 

If the Warrego is approved for local roads, H2X Global now claims Australian production could take place in the Victorian town of Sale – approximately three hours east of Melbourne – rather than Port Kembla.

H2X Global is the third Australian start-up to announce plans for a zero-emissions ute, following Roev and Sea Electric – both of which are planning to locally modify electric vehicles based on the top-selling Toyota HiLux.

Based on the previous-generation Ford Ranger, H2X Global has replaced the donor ute’s diesel engine with a 260kW electric motor and a 60kW hydrogen fuel-cell, packaged into a supercapacitor hybrid system.

Previously seen in the Lamborghini Sian concept, a supercapacitor can be charged and discharged more rapidly than traditional lithium-ion batteries found in most electric cars, while also achieving a longer lifespan.

The electric motor is connected to the Ford Ranger’s standard transfer case, allowing the hydrogen fuel-cell ute to retain all-wheel-drive. 

Hydrogen is stored in a tank made from advanced polymer and carbon fibre which is pressurised at up to 700 bar, offering a claimed driving range of up to 450km on a full tank.

In September 2021, H2X Global announced the Warrego would be priced from $189,900 plus on-road costs in ‘Warrego 66’ trim, bumping up to $235,000 for the mid-range ‘90’ and $250,000 for the flagship ‘90 XR’.

The company claims it received 250 orders from commercial customers for the Warrego within four days, however pricing for the hydrogen ute has since been removed from H2X Global’s website.

According to H2X Global, the company is prioritising production in Europe rather than Australia due to the availability of hydrogen and government support for zero-emissions vehicles. 

European production of the H2X Global Warrego was originally due to begin in April 2022, however supply chain issues pushed back its debut.

“It is extremely satisfying that our team now have the Warrego running through the final stages of its engineering, safety and on-road verification program and production readiness,” H2X Global CEO, Brendan Norman, said in a media statement.

“We have indeed had some frustrating delays over the past nine months; however, we are now well on track with our rollout plans.

“Supply chain issues, which have negatively impacted manufacturing companies worldwide, put us about nine months behind schedule; however, our production and engineering teams have done an amazing job to overcome these problems, and we are now back on schedule.”

H2X Global says the Warrego demonstrates the company’s hydrogen fuel-cell technology, claiming it will produce hydrogen fuel-cell commercial vehicles and taxis by 2025.

“The Warrego is essentially a demonstration vehicle which we can offer to several customers to accelerate the availability of all-wheel-drive light commercial vehicles to customers, using a state-of-the-art hybrid hydrogen fuel-cell system,” said Mr Norman.

“This application will be applied in a more optimised form in the Darling Delivery Van and Taxi/MPV (people-mover) targeted for release to support the large number of European cities which will be closed off from diesel and petrol vehicles from 2025.”

In August 2022, utes such as the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton and Isuzu D-Max occupied four of the top 10 spots on the Australian new-car sales charts.

Despite local demand for utes, there are currently no electric utes on sale in Australia.

However, Chinese car-maker LDV has recently announced plans to launch its eT60 electric ute in Australia towards the end of this year, becoming the first manufacturer to offer a zero-emissions dual-cab locally.

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