Michelin’s Watèa embraces hydrogen

As part of efforts to diversify its activities, in 2021 Michelin launched Watèa by Michelin, a France-based business that helps fleets transition to electric mobility. Watèa is now extending its remit to fuel cell vehicles, and Michelin speaks of an ambition to “conquer hydrogen mobility.”

Hydrogen power is still unfamiliar territory for many, yet the International Energy Agency’s 2023 EV Outlook Global Report indicates that the number of fuel cell vehicles on roads worldwide grew by 40 per cent in 2022. And with greater autonomy and quicker charging times than battery electric vehicles, we can expect the hydrogen vehicle parc to keep expanding.

With hydrogen vehicles, Michelin promises Watèa clients in France a remarkably similar mobility experience to the combustion engine vans they transition from. Fleets can initially choose between the Peugeot e-Expert Hydrogen and Citroën ë-Jumpy hydrogen; this range will broaden going forward.

One-stop subscription service

The offer covers a subscription-based one-stop service which includes hydrogen vehicles, charging solutions, maintenance and 24-hour assistance, as well as a range of digital services. The subscription also provides access to European, national and regional subsidies, with Watèa handling all administrative procedures with the organisations concerned. In keeping with its decarbonisation mission, Watèa has also chosen to enable its clients to refuel with renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.

“To make strides in decarbonising our commercial vehicle fleets, we must give our clients the very best in electrical technology,” says Pascal Nouvellon, chief executive officer and president of Watèa. “This is why, after a lengthy test and development phase, Watèa is poised to propose its offering for hydrogen electric vehicles, in conjunction with the offer it launched in 2021 for battery electric vehicles which will continue to exist and to expand.

“Indeed, hydrogen electric vehicles enable users to bypass some of the constraints associated with battery vehicles: their autonomy is greater, but, more importantly, charging times are drastically reduced,” Nouvellon continues. “We feel that today, in cities like Paris and Lyon, the hydrogen ecosystem is sufficiently mature, and demand from our clients is sufficiently strong, for this solution to be highly successful.”

Michelin currently owns 70 per cent of Watèa. In December 2022, the company announced that Watèa by Michelin had opened 30 per cent of its share capital to Crédit Agricole Leasing & Factoring, a subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group specialising in lease-purchasing, factoring, and financing renewable energies for professionals and companies.