The first hydrogen-powered pickup truck will be a Ford Ranger, but it’s not one being built by the US manufacturer. Called the Warrego, the pickup has instead been designed and built for Europe and beyond by Australian firm H2X Global.

Backed by Liberty Capital, the Warrego prototype is undergoing final validation and verification in the Netherlands as it heads towards gaining European certification. Australian certification testing will commence soon.

H2X will target Europe for the first release of the new vehicle, primarily due to the availability of hydrogen stations in the region. Government support to develop the hydrogen economy is also in place in many countries, ensuring long-term viability.

Originally intended to launch in Australia in April 2002, the Warrego has been delayed significantly by the same supply chain issues that are dogging the automotive industry.

“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,” explained H2X Global CEO and founder, Brendan Norman.

“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 Warrego coming to Europe

The Warrego will demonstrate H2X Global’s platform that will be used as a basis for the upcoming Darling delivery van. The van will be the first vehicle fully developed and optimised in-house by H2X.

Brendan Norman commented: “The Warrego is essentially a demonstration vehicle which we can offer to several customers to accelerate the availability of an AWD light commercial vehicles to customers, using a state-of-the-art Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell System.”

The Warrego Pickup features a full version of the H2X powertrain developed for light vehicles featuring a supercapacitor-based hybrid system. A 60kW fuel cell connected to a hybrid battery/supercapacitor electric drive system is fuelled by a hydrogen tank system.

Under everyday use, hydrogen will be stored at a pressure of 350 bar. However, advanced polymer and carbon fibre construction allow the pressure to be doubled to 700 bar, extending the range per tank.

H2X Global Warrego coming to Europe
H2X Global Warrego: Price and Availability

H2X Global says that the Warrego will be available to customers over “the coming months” and in line with the availability of hydrogen. H2X will produce the Warrego in Europe and Australia at its facility in Sale, Victoria.

While price details have yet to be confirmed, it’s understood that H2X is targeting a price tag of around 200,000 Australian dollars, or about £120,000.

Phil Huff
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