By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Hydrogen solutions provider Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) and EV firm Edison Motors announced Wednesday a deal to develop and bring a hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric city bus to market.
Not to be confused with SPI Energy's EdisonFuture, Edison Motors is a Korean electric car manufacturer that boldly claims on its website that it "will overtake Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)." The company sold the most number of electric buses in Seoul this year, for the second consecutive year, and is considered the largest electric bus and truck manufacturer in Korea.
New York-based Plug Power's 125kW ProGen fuel cell engine will power Edison Motors' electric bus platform, with the companies expecting to have a prototype completed by the second half of 2022. After that, they are planning to launch a "mass-market platform" by the first half of 2023.
Edison Motors will mass-produce the fuel cell electric buses named "SMART 110F," which will be distributed in South Korea.
Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, said: "Plug Power has a goal to expand our global footprint to stimulate the Asian hydrogen and fuel cell market. We acknowledge this is one of the fast-growing markets in the world and believe that this partnership with Edison Motors, will pave the way to achieving global net zero."
Edison's Chairman Young-Kwon Kang said this is just the beginning of longer-term cooperation between the companies with plans for other mobility projects.
"In the future, we hope to partner on other mobility applications including trucks, vessels, drones, and PAVs. We believe that our combined technology and know-how in electric buses will position us to sell fuel cell-powered electric buses not only in Korea but also in other overseas markets," stated Kang.
After initially climbing at the open, Plug Power shares are down 2.3%